


Someone Else's Tomorrow

by Dharma_Snowbush



Series: Tomorrow Is a Long Time [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Action, Angst, Cults, Donuts, Drinking, Dynamite, F/F, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff, Shenanigans, Time Travel, Witches, demon killin', flash forwards?, spells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:17:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 76,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dharma_Snowbush/pseuds/Dharma_Snowbush
Summary: The widows are dead, but not before destroying the seals and awakening the demon Bulshar. Now, Wynonna and the rest of the gang are in a race to prevent Bulshar from fully reclaiming his power before his cult of followers sabotage their only hope of stopping him.A newcomer to Purgatory seems to know more about the Earps than anyone should and, although she may have the answers they need to stop Bulshar, her presence may alter Waverly and Nicole's future permanently.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We've all gotta past the time during the hiatus somehow. This is a undertaking co-written by my friend and I and we hope you all enjoy it! Title is a Patty Griffin song and you can find me on Tumblr @captain-empty

_Harper sat in the passenger side of the sheriff’s car, leg bouncing in anticipation. She’d spent two weeks preparing for this moment and was running through the plan in her head for the thousandth time that day. There were so many little things she’d have to take care of before she could even begin her true mission._

_“Harper!” Harper snapped her head up and looked at the older woman driving the car. “Are you alright?”_

_“Yeah,” Harper nodded. “I’m just a little nervous.”_

_The car pulled off the road and stopped next to a billboard welcoming travelers to Wyatt Earp Country._

_“You don’t have to do this, Harper.” The older woman reached over and placed her hand on Harper’s knee. “We can figure something else out.”_

_“No we can’t.” Harper pushed open the door and stepped out into the cold night. She headed around to the trunk and pulled out a large duffel bag. “And if I don’t, I would have spent two weeks memorizing police codes for no reason.”_

_“Yes, what a waste of time,” the woman said, heading off for the billboard. “Unlike those two months you spent learning Sumerian.”_

_“You never know when you might need Sumerian!” Harper said. They both laughed as they made their way through the snow._

_Once they reached the sign, Harper tossed the duffel bag onto the ground and rummaged through her pockets. She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with several lines of phonetically spelled words. While the other woman lit a bundle of dried herbs, Harper read from the paper. After several tense moments, a bright sunlight hit their eyes as the space below the billboard went from night to day. Harper grabbed her duffel and tossed it towards the light. It passed through the space without a problem and landed in the sunlit dirt just beyond the sign. Harper turned back to the other woman and smiled nervously._

_“Step away from that portal or so help me!” A voice called out from back where they’d left the car. A rusted old pickup now sat next to the squad car and two women hopped out. The shorter of the two ran towards them, yelling in an incoherent rage._

_“I’ll take care of this,” Harper’s companion said. “You go, we don’t have a lot of time.”_

_“Oh no,” the small intruder said, stomping the last few feet to them. “You stop right there, young lady. Do not take another step!”_

_Harper looked between the two women, frozen in place._

_“Go.”_

_“No.”_

_Before they could continue their argument, the sound of motorcycles filled the air. All four women turned and looked back down the road. Several headlights were headed their way._

_“We should probably take this argument elsewhere,” the woman by the pickup truck called over to them._

_"No time!" Harper shouted back, pulling her gun out its holster. The woman by the truck pulled out her Colt Buntline Special and grabbed a shotgun from the truck before sprinting to meet up with the rest of the group._

_The motorcycles were on them in a matter of moments and all hell broke loose. One man jumped off his bike and slammed Harper to the ground. Before she could get back to her feet, the man shrieked in pain as the ground opened and flames surrounded him, dragging him down. Harper scrambled up, grabbed a large stick, then took a swing at the nearest biker. He hit the ground hard and his bike slid off into the darkness. Harper raised her gun, but before she could fire, an explosion sent everyone flying through the air._

_Harper blinked through the pain and sat up. The sudden daylight burned her eyes as she squinted, looking around for her gun. Her gun was nowhere in sight, but she did find the Colt Buntline Special._

_“Shit,” she said, grabbing it and jumping to her feet. She spun around, searching for everyone else, but she was alone with her bag and gun. She slipped the gun into her holster and grabbed her duffel off the ground. “We sure are off to a great start.”_

* * *

**One Month Later**

“I want to shoot something,” Wynonna said, trying to hook a powdered donut on the end of Peacemaker.

“Revenant activity has been a little slow this week,” Waverly said, searching through a tall pile of black books adorned with silver writings. “Have you seen my _Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects book_?”

Wynonna looked down at the book she’d been using as a plate. Waverly followed her eyes and frowned.

“Do you have any idea how much this Time-Life series cost me on ebay?” Waverly snatched the book away from Wynonna and began frantically wiping sugar and chocolate off the cover.

“I’m tired of researching revenants,” Wynonna groaned. “Can’t we hit the road and find them the old fashioned way?”

“And possibly walk right into an ambush?” Dolls said, sitting on the end of the table. “Not happening. If demons are scarce, there is a reason. Before we set foot out there, we’re going to figure out what that reason is.”

“Sure thing, Captain Fun,” Wynonna said, saluting Dolls.

“That’s Deputy Marshall Fun,” Dolls corrected. “How about you two go get some lunch, then come back with fresh eyes.”

“But I was just going to-” Waverly said when Wynonna grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

“Come on, baby girl,” Wynonna said. “When the teacher dismisses class, you leave.”

“Oh, like you were ever in class,” Waverly said. As they rounded the corner, they ran straight into a tall red-haired woman sending coffee splashing everywhere.

“I’m so sorry, Mo-Wa-Ma’am,” the woman said, scrambling to pick up the cups.

“Ma’am?” Wynonna said. Then she muttered to Waverly, “I think I found someone to shoot.”

“That’s alright,” Waverly said, elbowing Wynonna then bending down to grab a cup that had rolled behind her. “Officer Harper, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, yes,” Harper said. She took the cup Waverly was holding out to her. “Sorry, again.”

Harper hurried around them and turned into the reception area.

“Leave it to Haught to hire an awkward six foot ginger,” Wynonna said. She looked down at the mess on the floor and took a large step over it.

“She’s not awkward,” Waverly said, stepping around the coffee puddle. “She’s new in town and a little nervous.”

“The girl _stares_ at us,” Wynonna said. “It’s creepy.”

“She’s probably just curious,” Waverly said. “We do spend most our time in a top secret office. I bet she is trying to figure out what it is we do all day.”

“You are way too nice.”

“You should try it some time.”

* * *

Harper sat down at her desk after cleaning up the mess in the hall and running out for a second round of coffee for the office. Sheriff Nedley hadn’t been thrilled with the time it took her to bring him his coffee order, but she wasn’t terribly worried about him. It’s not like she’d ever seen him smile. Nicole had said it was fine, but Harper could see the frustration on her face. Harper had worked there for two weeks and had pretty much messed up every task she’d been given. She was pretty sure she only continued to have a job because they were short staffed and no one else had applied for the vacant positions.

Glancing around, Harper made sure she was alone before unsticking notecards from the bottom of her keyboard. She hadn’t so much spent two weeks memorizing police codes and procedures as writing them down on notecards in the smallest handwriting possible. Finding the code she was looking for, Harper pulled up the case file she’d been assigned that morning. It was boring, tedious work, but if Harper was going to have any chance of getting to the Black Badge files, she’d had to stick with it. 

“Officer Harper,” Nicole said, coming into the office with a large stack of files.

“Yes, Officer Haught-Er… Haught,” Harper said, shaking her head at another slip. “What can I help you with?”

“I need you to get these morgue files into the system.” Nicole dropped the stack next to Harper with a loud thud. 

“That’s a lot of files,” Harper said. She thumbed through the stack and counted twenty-five folders.

“You have a problem with that, rookie?” Nicole hooked her thumbs onto her belt and threw a stern look at Harper.

“Nope, no,” Harper said. “Just an observation.”

Harper grabbed the top the top folder and set to work. Nicole watched her for a second before pulling over a chair and sitting next to her.

“It’s a lot faster if you select the reporting officer then search with the case number,” Nicole pointed at a drop down on the screen. “These computers are ancient so you need to help them along when you can.”

Nicole sat and helped Harper through several more files, giving her tips and tricks to make the work faster and more accurate. Harper was especially grateful for the advice on how to read the pathologist’s terrible shorthand. 

Looking over at the clock, Nicole stood up and put back her chair. “Let’s go. Leave the rest for tomorrow.”

“Where are we going?” Harper asked.

“Shorty’s,” Nicole said. She put on her jacket and tossed Harper’s over to her. “I’m going to buy you a drink. Celebrate making it two weeks in the Purgatory PD.”

Harper started to follow Nicole out of the office when her phone began to buzz. 

“I have to take this,” Harper said, waving her phone. “I’ll catch up in two minutes.”

Nicole nodded then headed out of the station. Once Nicole was out of sight, Harper went back to her desk and opened the top drawer, popping open a false bottom and grabbing a newspaper article from the top of a stack of papers. She double checked the security cameras were still down from her “mishap” last week, walked over to the Black Badge office and slid the paper under the door, then headed out of the office to meet Nicole.

* * *

Shorty’s was packed, as usual, but Nicole managed to get them a table by the entrance, probably because a gust of cold wind hit the table every time someone walked through the doors. Nicole bought the first round and managed to coax some conversation out of the perpetually nervous rookie. It was clear the young woman was intelligent, so Nicole was trying to wheedle out how she was such a terrible police officer.

Nicole felt bad even thinking that Harper was _terrible_ at her job, but she had managed to consistently fill out incorrect forms, not understand even basic codes and blow up the security system’s electrical box. They still hadn’t gotten the security cameras back online. Under normal circumstances, Harper would have been fired by now, but they had another officer quit after having his gun melted by an acid spitting demon. Well, the official report said an acid wielding drug addict, but it was a demon. And that was after they failed to fill the two already vacant positions. At this point, Nedley was threatening to hire Champ. 

When they finished the first round, Harper insisted on getting the second. She skipped down the steps, hopping over the second from the bottom, then easily weaved her way through the drunken clientele and made it to the bar. Nicole thought it was odd how nervous and awkward Harper acted while still fitting seamlessly into Purgatory. Harper’s file indicated she was from an equally small town, so it must have just come naturally. 

Harper came back to the table, again stepping over the second step from the bottom, taking her seat and setting the glasses down on the table. Nicole watched her as she sipped her beer and watched the crowd, a faint smile on her face.

“Why did you become a police officer?” Nicole asked. Harper turned back to look at Nicole, a confused look on her face. “I mean, you said you have degrees in linguistics and what was it?”

“Religion and mythology,” Harper said, smiling. “It was one of those create your major situations.”

“Right,” Nicole said. “I’m curious how you go from that to the academy.”

“Oh, well.” Harper drummed her fingers on the side of her glass. “My mother is a sheriff.”

“So, she wanted you to do this?” Nicole asked. Feeling pressured to be like her mother would certainly explain the abrupt career change and the terrible job performance.

“Kind of,” Harper said. “I certainly wouldn’t be here without her.”

Harper laughed nervously and took a big gulp of her drink. Before Nicole could press for more information, a cold blast of air hit the table as the front doors swung open revealing the Earp sisters. They were leaning on each other and laughing. It was clear to Nicole that the two of them had started their night early.

“My best baby!” Waverly squeaked when she spotted Nicole. She threw herself down on her girlfriend’s lap and gave her a sloppy, drunk kiss that probably should have been reserved for when they had privacy. Harper immediately stared down into her glass, her face tinged red.

“Do you have a problem with my sister?” Wynonna slurred at her.

“What?” Harper jumped in her seat. “No! No, I have two moms. And they mean the world to me! I just...privacy. You know what, I think I’m feeling a little homesick. I should go. I’m gonna go.”

Harper got up and maneuvered around Wynonna, who was trying to spin around one of the chairs and kick her leg over the back at the same time. Nicole caught Harper with one hand while trying to steer Waverly into her own chair with the other.

“Stay,” Nicole said. “They’ll calm down once they remember how chairs work.”

“I should get some rest,” Harper said. “Those morgue reports aren’t going to digitize themselves.”

She turned and hurried out of the bar. Nicole shook her head and turned back to the sisters. Wynonna had managed to sit sideways on the chair and was still trying to figure out how to get her leg over the back of the chair and Waverly had gotten back on Nicole’s lap with her feet on the other chair.

“She’s weird,” Wynonna said, gesturing toward the front door.

“Nooo,” Waverly said. “Tell her she’s not weird. She’s a sweet kid.”

“Kid?” Nicole chuckled. “She’s older than you, Waverly.”

“Age is a number,” Waverly stated.

“How about I get you two back to the Homestead?” Nicole said as she stood up, holding Waverly bridal style.

“Ew,” Wynonna said, standing up with the help of the table. “You’re adorable happiness is making me need another drink.”

Wynonna turned and stomped down the steps, her foot going right through the second step from the bottom.

* * *

Waverly and Nicole made their way into the station the next morning all smiles and giggles. Nicole had her arm slung over Waverly’s shoulders with Waverly nestled into Nicole’s side. They stopped in front of the Black Badge office and as they went to kiss goodbye, the door swung open and Wynonna glared at them, leaning against the door frame. 

“Don’t mind me,” Wynonna said. “I’ll just wait for you two to finish. It’s not like we have demons to hunt and a world to save.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and stood up on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss onto Nicole’s cheek. Nicole squeezed Waverly’s hands then turned towards her desk. When Waverly didn’t turn away from watching Nicole walk off, Wynonna hooked her hand into Waverly’s belt and pulled her into the Black Badge office.

“Why are you in such a hurry to get back to covering my research in sprinkles?” Waverly asked as she walked over to her stack of books.

“Because we have a lead!” Wynonna said, bouncing up and down next to Dolls who was reading a newspaper clipping. “Please tell me I get to shoot something.”

Dolls looked up at Wynonna with his usual expressionless face and held the article out to Waverly. She took it and read through it quickly. It was dated three days ago from a small paper in Utah and talked about dedicating a display of Jack Johnson’s law books in a local museum. 

“I’m sorry,” Waverly said, handing the article back to Dolls. “How is this a lead? Utah is just a hair outside the Ghost River Triangle.”

“We don’t know yet,” Dolls said. “But it was slipped under our door sometime last night.”

“And!” Jeremy said, poking his head out of the back office’s door. “Even though this article is only dated from three days ago, according to my chemical test the paper is nearly 30 years old.”

“So it’s past news from the future?” Wynonna said, grabbing the page to look it over herself.

“Yes,” Jeremy agreed enthusiastically. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Dolls said, carefully taking the article back and sliding it into a clear plastic sleeve. “We know roughly when it was given to us, but there is no security footage and no fingerprints. So, we need to find out what we can about Jack Johnson and see if we can figure out why someone would slip this to us.”

“Probably because ol’ Turkey Creek Johnson was part of the Earp Vendetta Ride,” Wynonna said, helping herself to the donut on Dolls’ plate. Everyone stared at her silently. “What? I know things. Waverly isn’t the only smart Earp in the room.”

“Alright, that’s a start,” Dolls nodded. “But we need more.”

“I think I came across some stuff about the Vendetta Ride in some of the boxes in the barn,” Waverly said. “I could go see what I find.”

“That’s good,” Dolls said. “Someone should probably talk to Doc, since he was on that ride.”

“I can interview Doc,” Jeremy offered, a big dorky grin on his face.

“I will talk to Doc,” Wynonna said. Then she waved her hand at the newspaper. “Maybe you can stay here and do more science on that thing.”

“More science,” Jeremy said, walking over to get the newspaper. “That’s specific.”

“And I will check the Black Badge files,” Dolls said. 

“Go team!” Waverly said, punching her fist into the air. They all looked at her. “No one else?”

“We’ll work on it for next time, Waves,” Wynonna said, taking Waverly’s hand and pulling her out of the office.

* * *

“Thunderation!” Wynonna yelled as she kicked open the door to Shorty’s. Doc, eyes wild, spun around with his six-shooter at the ready.

“Wynonna,” Doc said, holstering his gun. “What has gotten into you?”

“I just wanted to make an entrance,” Wynonna said. She jumped down the stairs, being sure to miss the step she’d broken the night before. The crime scene tape she’d pilfered from Nicole’s car still clung to the step, though it was clear Wynonna’s was not the only foot that had gone all the way through it last night.

“Well you certainly achieved that,” Doc said, tipping his head to her as he spoke. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Turkey Creek Johnson,” Wynonna said. She took a seat at the bar and placed Peacemaker on the counter in front of her. “Any chance he’s a rev in need of being put down?”

“That seems unlikely.” Doc reached behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of whisky and two glasses. As he poured each of them a glass, he continued, “Jack was a lawyer and an old friend of the Earps. Wasn’t much of a gunman, mostly just an informer for your great-great-granddaddy.”

“But he was on the Vendetta Ride with you and Wyatt,” Wynonna said, taking a drink. “And what kind of nickname is ‘Turkey Creek’?”

“The kind a lawyer comes up with himself before riding with a group of former outlaws,” Doc said, smiling at the memory. “I tried him to persuade him to pick something else, anything else, but he insisted.”

“It’s a terrible nickname,” Wynonna said.

“Indeed it was,” Doc nodded. “But to answer your earlier question, yes, he was on the so called Vendetta Ride as the Wikipedia is so fond of calling it. Why, may I ask, all the questions about Jack?”

“Someone slipped Black Badge a newspaper clipping about his books being in some museum in Utah,” Wynonna said, waving her hand vaguely.

“Now that is interesting,” Doc agreed. He sat back in his chair, thinking.

“Does it mean something to you?” Wynonna pressed.

“Not specifically,” Doc admitted. “But Jack sure did cherish those law books of his. Took the damn things with us on our ride.”

“That’s a bizarre thing to do,” Wynonna said. She scrunched up her face trying to figure out what any of this could mean.

“The man called himself Turkey Creek,” Doc said. “He was bizarre in every sense of the word.”

“Thanks for the info.” Wynonna stood up, but Doc caught her elbow.

“You sure you don’t want to stay for another drink?” He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I’m not sure,” Wynonna said. “But I need to go find Waverly. Raincheck?”

“Absolutely.”

Doc tipped his hat as Wynonna put her foot through the step for the second time in twenty-four hours.

"Son of bitch!"

* * *

“I thought you were supposed to be doing research for Black Badge,” Nicole said breathlessly as Waverly tugged at her shirt.

“I already know everything there is to know about Jack Johnson,” Waverly said between kissing Nicole and fighting with her shirt. The new uniforms looked sexy, but were not nearly as easy for Waverly to rip off.

“And what if Wynonna shows up?” Nicole said. Waverly’s sister had an almost supernatural way of walking in on them.

“She’s at Shorty’s with Doc,” Waverly said, finally yanking Nicole’s shirt off. “We have all afternoon.”

“Technically,” Nicole said, unbuttoning Waverly’s shirt with ease. “We have until the end of my lunch break.”

Waverly put her hands on her hips and tilted her head disapprovingly.

“I’m going to stop talking.” Nicole smiled as Waverly pushed her back onto the bed.

“Son of a bitch!”

“Hi, Wynonna,” Nicole said, letting her head hit the pillow as Waverly scrambled for their shirts.

“Waverly,” Wynonna said as she shielded her eyes. “That is not what I meant when I said you needed to be ‘hot on the trail’!”

Waverly hurried to get her shirt back on, but Nicole pulled her uniform on and adjusted it slowly. After roughly the tenth time, Nicole had stopped caring how long it took her to become decent. If Wynonna was going to interrupt her ‘lunch break’, Nicole was going to waste a little of her time.

“I should get back to the station to make sure Harper hasn’t blown anything up,” Nicole said. She gave Waverly a quick kiss and slid off the end of the bed.

“You weren’t all concerned about that a minute ago,” Wynonna said, chuckling to herself.

“Goodbye, Wynonna,” Nicole said. Then to Waverly, “I’ll call you later.”

Nicole left the two sisters alone in an awkward silence. Waverly patted the spot next to her and, after making a face, Wynonna took the seat.

“I thought you came here to dig through boxes, not knock boots,” Wynonna said, smoothing the crumpled blankets.

“Wynonna,” Waverly said. “There are no boxes. I already know everything there is to know about Jack ‘Turkey Creek’ Johnson. Hell, I wrote his Wikipedia page!”

“You write Wikipedia articles?” Wynonna asked. There was still so much she didn’t know about her littler sister. She made a mental note to ask about Waverly’s hobbies at a later date.

“Only when I’m drunk,” Waverly admitted. 

“I suppose that’s better than what I do,” Wynonna shrugged.

“What? Go to a strip club and bang a revenant?” Waverly smiled.

“That was one time,” Wynonna said, flopping back onto the bed. Waverly laughed and laid next to her. “How are you doing? It’s not like you to skip out on the brain stuff.”

“Not this again,” Waverly said. She thought her sister was still concerned she would fall into old patterns of losing herself in her significant other. “Nicole’s been so busy training the new rookie we’ve hardly seen each other these past two weeks. And you were supposed to be _with_ Doc, so I thought I had time.”

“Ugh.” Wynonna scrunched up her face. “That is so not what I meant. I don’t need to hear about the details of your afternoon booty calls with Officer Haught Lips.”

Waverly groaned and let her head drop onto Wynonna’s shoulder.

“I meant about those test results you got,” Wynonna explained.

“It’s an adjustment, finally knowing what I’ve always suspected,” Waverly said. “That I’m not an Earp.”

Wynonna sat up sharply, nearly knocking Waverly off the bed. “I don’t care what any DNA test says,” Wynonna said, hugging Waverly tightly. “You are absolutely an Earp and we are 100% sisters.”

Waverly blinked back a tear and pulled away from her sister. She reached out for Wynonna’s hand and pulled her to her feet. They walked back to Wynonna’s truck and headed back to the station.

* * *

Black Badge had been buzzing all day. They’d been in and out of the office and Harper had definitely heard the name “Turkey Creek” bandied about. She had worried they’d need more to get started, but they seemed to be off on the right foot. Harper would have liked to have gotten a better idea of how things were going, but Nicole came in saying a bunch of numbers as if they meant something to Harper.

“Really?” Nicole said when Harper didn’t respond. “That means someone found a body.”

“Right,” Harper jumped up and grabbed her jacket. Nicole shook her head in exasperation and headed out to the car. Harper started to follow, but doubled back to her desk for her lunch.

Nicole gave Harper the run down as they drove to the scene. An anonymous caller had tipped them off to a body dumped in a ditch alongside the road out of town. The caller said they couldn’t tell who it was or if it was a man or a woman as the face had been chewed off.

“Since this is your first body,” Nicole said as they pulled up to the scene. “It’s alright to step back when you have to. Breathe, collect yourself, then come back.”

“Sure thing,” Harper said, tucking her sandwich into an empty pouch on her belt. She felt like it was probably there to hold some police equipment, but she couldn’t figure out what exactly and it was the perfect size for a sandwich.

The two officers who had reached the scene before them had cordoned off the area and stood by with terrified looks on their faces. Harper really would have thought the Purgatory officers would have been more used to this kind of thing. When she and Nicole reached the area, Harper could see the chewed off face as well as the rest of the body that was still completely intact. Before she could stop herself, she audibly groaned. 

“Everything alright, Officer Harper?” Nicole said, opening glaring at her.

“It’s just obvious that,” Harper started, but then caught herself. She knew she really shouldn’t finish that sentence.

“Obvious it’s what?” Nicole asked. “If you have information about this case, I need you to tell me immediately.”

“Uh,” Harper said, mind racing for a response. “It’s just obvious that this wasn’t coyotes.”

Nicole frowned, then ducked under the tape to get a closer look at the body. Harper didn’t need to get any closer to know what had happened, but she didn’t want Nicole to think she couldn’t handle a dead body.

“You’re right that this wasn’t coyotes.” Nicole knelt down and began carefully checking the body. Harper knelt next to her, pretending to examine the body as well. “Never heard of coyotes eating a victim’s face and leaving the rest of the body untouched.”

Harper leaned in close to the face and gestured at the edge of the wound. “Coyote teeth would have more of tear than this. This is less precise than a knife, but neater than an animal attack.”

“What do you think it is?” Nicole asked, leaning in to get a good look at the face herself.

“Uh,” Harper said, trying to come up with a plausible answer that wasn’t demons. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

“You wait here,” Nicole said, standing up. Harper followed suit. “I’m going to look around.”

Harper nodded and as soon as Nicole had stepped out of the ditch, fished her sandwich out of her pouch. She’d been waiting to take her lunch break until she could figure out a way to listen in on Black Badge, which had been a terrible idea as she had no idea how to covertly listen in on a top secret organization that she wasn’t even supposed to know existed. 

“What are you doing?” Nicole snapped just as Harper had taken a large bite of her sandwich. Harper chewed as fast as she could before answering.

“I skipped lunch,” she said, offering a weak smile.

“Over a corpse is not an appropriate time for snacking,” Nicole said. Harper crammed the rest of her sandwich back into her belt. “That is for your handcuffs.”

“Handcuffs!” Harper said, smacking her hand on her forehead. “Such an obvious one.”

“Do you have any idea how many rules you are breaking right now,” Nicole said. She was furious, but trying to keep herself professional. “Go get the camera.”

As Harper wandered off to the car, she muttered to herself, “Is it as many rules as you break when you drive your girlfriend around in the squad car?”

“What did you say?” Nicole yelled after her.

“I was wondering if you needed anything else from the squad car,” Harper called back.

“Just get the camera.”

* * *

“Nicole,” Nedley said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “We don’t have the manpower to fire someone for eating a sandwich.”

“It’s not only the sandwich,” Nicole said. She paced in front of Nedley’s desk, frustrated from her day out with Harper. “She has no idea what she’s doing.”

“You’re supposed to be mentoring her,” Nedley said. He leaned forward on his desk and folded his hands together. “How about this, you can mentor her or you can mentor Champ Hardy.”

Nicole huffed and rolled her eyes. 

“That’s what I thought.” Nedley returned to the files on his desk, ignoring any further pleas from Nicole.

Nicole left Nedley’s office mumbling to herself about how ridiculous the whole situation was. Harper was sitting at her desk loading the pictures from the camera into the system. Even from across the room, Nicole could see she wasn’t cataloguing them correctly. Swallowing her frustration, Nicole dug a book out of her desk then walked over to Harper.

“We need to talk,” Nicole said, pointing toward the break room. Harper needed to sort her shit out, but there was no need to scold her in front of the other officers. 

They headed to the break room and Nicole gently shut the door behind them. Harper looked as nervous as usual and Nicole found herself wondering if that nervousness was at least part of her problem. 

“You need to start picking this up right now,” Nicole said. Harper nodded, leaning back on the counter. “Frankly, I’m not sure how you made it out of the academy, but that doesn’t matter. You didn’t learn it then, you are going to learn it now.”

Nicole tossed the book over to Harper who caught it easily. She looked down at the cover and saw it was the police manual.

“I’m going to turn you into an officer if it kills us,” Nicole said. “First lesson, don’t eat at crime scenes and especially don’t eat over bodies.”

“I am so sorry about that,” Harper said, hugging the book to her chest. “I skipped lunch and I spend a lot of time reading about unsolved mysteries, so dead bodies don’t really bother me. I know it’s a weird hobby, but then I guess it’s not really a hobby any more. It’s just my job!”

Harper laughed her nervous laugh and Nicole gave her a half smile.

“Just do exactly what I tell you,” Nicole said. “And learn that book.”

“Yes, mo- ma’am.” Harper stumbled over her words.

“Nicole is fine,” Nicole said, watching Harper carefully. She had a habit of stumbling over her words, as if she were going to say one thing, then switching at the last moment. “Back at the scene you seemed like you knew something about the attack. What was it?”

“I was reminded of this thing from one of my mythology classes,” Harper said. “There was, uh, a myth about a… creature that would eat people’s faces to gain power. It was called an Arcainae demon.”

Nicole narrowed her eyes, examining Harper’s face carefully as she spoke.

“I’m not saying it’s a demon,” Harper said, laughing again. “That would be insane, right?”

“Right,” Nicole said.

“But it could be someone who knows about the myth,” Harper said carefully. “These demons are said to live in caves, natural ones, not like mine shafts or anything, and they feed on seven people once every seven years. Supposedly.”

“Uh, huh,” Nicole said. Harper glanced nervously around the room, not making eye contact with Nicole. 

“I should get back to work,” Harper said. “And I’ve got studying to do.”

Harper slipped past Nicole back into the office. Nicole waited for Harper to return to her desk before heading over to the Black Badge office. She knocked and a moment later was let inside by Dolls. Black Badge was no longer hiding things from Nicole, but she still thought it best to knock first so she didn’t accidentally disrupt any rituals or demon wrangling.

“I think we have a case for you,” Nicole said, as Dolls shut the door behind her. “We got a body in the morgue with the face chewed off.”

“Oh!” Waverly jumped to her feet and skipped over to Nicole. “I wonder if it’s an Arcainae demon. Every seven years they come out of their caves to eat people’s faces.”

“You are way too excited about face eating,” Wynonna said. She had her feet up on the table and was polishing Peacemaker. “Everything alright, Haught Stuff?”

Nicole’s brow was furrowed and she was scowling off into space.

“Babe?” Waverly asked, poking Nicole gently.

“What?” Nicole said. She shook her head, then pointed her thumb back towards the door. “I should get back to Harper. Turns out I have to teach her how numbers work.”

“Alright.” Waverly looked concerned. Nicole turned and left the room as Waverly called after her, “Call me later!”

Nicole returned to her desk, but couldn’t focus on her work. She glanced over at Harper who had abandoned the camera in favor of reading the police manual Nicole had given her. There was something odd going on with her and Nicole was determined to figure out what.

* * *

Harper spent most of the rest of her day staring at the manual Nicole had given her. It was the exact same book she had sitting on her nightstand in her tiny studio apartment on the other side of town. Of course she didn’t really care about reading it right that second, but it did provide her with a cover so she could ponder what to do next. 

The presence of this demon was threatening to throw off her plans, so Harper needed to prevent it from ruining everything. She’d hoped dropping the slightest bit of information to Nicole would lead the other officer to dealing with it herself, but Harper should have known better. Immediately after their little meeting, Nicole had gone into the Black Badge office. Harper was quite certain she had passed along the news of the demon attack to the Earp gang who would now be looking into that instead of Johnson’s books. 

Harper pulled up her calendar on her phone and drummed her pencil on the desk. The damn demon was mucking things up. She was supposed to be taking a road trip that weekend, but if the thing wasn’t dealt with in time, she would surely be called on to take extra shifts. 

As the time ticked by in her shift, Harper debated what to do. She knew things weren’t going to go perfectly smoothly, but she had hoped she wouldn’t hit a hiccup so soon. When her shift was finally over, she bid Nicole good night and set off to carry out what a was certainly a terrible plan.

* * *

“There’s my best baby,” Waverly said, strolling into the police station. 

Nicole looked up from her computer and smiled. She was exhausted from not only dealing with her rookie, but also picking up the slack since they were short staffed and was glad to see her girlfriend. A lesser officer would have given up by now, but Nicole was determined to become sheriff and if this is what it took, then so be it.

“I brought you dinner from Shorty’s,” Waverly said. She sat on the edge of Nicole’s desk and handed her a take out container. “Chicken salad, sans pickles.”

“Thanks, babe,” Nicole said, giving Waverly a quick thank you kiss. “I know I said we could have dinner tonight, but with the body and Jerry quitting and…”

“Harper,” Waverly finished for her. “Well, Jeremy is running some demon finding algorithm he just finished to find the Arcainae’s cave and as soon as he finds it, Wynonna will send that sucker right back to hell, so you can cross that off your list.”

“Have I said thank you recently?” Nicole asked.

“About thirty seconds ago,” Waverly laughed. “But it’s always appreciated. What are you working on?”

“A plan to teach Harper,” Nicole said, pointing at a list she’d been making. “I have no idea how she made it out of the academy.”

“Didn’t you say her mom is a sheriff?” Waverly asked. Nicole nodded. “Nepotism. I mean, that’s how half of Purgatory gets a job.”

“It’s so frustrating because I’m know she’s intelligent and more than capable of doing this job well,” Nicole said. “On her lunch break the other day, she was reading a code breaking book just for fun.”

“Was it _The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography_?” Waverly asked, perking up. Nicole couldn’t help laughing at her girlfriend’s excitement. “What? It’s a really good book.”

“I’m sure it is,” Nicole said, chuckling. “She reads that but then can’t handle an incredibly simple evidence cataloguing system. And at the crime scene today, she was making better observations than I was, but then started eating her lunch over the body. It’s weird.”

“Alright, that is pretty strange,” Waverly agreed.

“Something is going on with her,” Nicole said. “She mentioned the Arcainae demon before I brought the case to Black Badge. Said she heard about it in one of her mythology classes.”

Waverly frowned. “Do you think she’s a demon or a revenant? Should I tell Wynonna?”

“No,” Nicole said, shaking her head and looking away from Waverly. “I don’t know what to think yet. It could be nothing. Though…”

“What is it?” Waverly placed her finger under Nicole’s chin and tilted Nicole’s face back towards her.

“At Shorty’s last night,” Nicole said. “Before Wynonna put her foot through the step, Harper skipped that exact step every time she went up and down the stairs.”

“So she can see the future?” Waverly asked. “Or it’s merely a strange coincidence.”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said. She fiddled with her pencil, thinking about her rookie’s strange behavior. It was all a little off, but Nicole didn’t get the sense the woman was up to anything malicious. At least not yet. “It’s ridiculous. I should get back to this if I have any hope of making it home tonight.”

“I’ll let you know when we find the demon,” Waverly said, hopping off the desk. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Nicole said as Waverly waved goodbye. 

Nicole tried to return to her work, but couldn’t concentrate. Eventually, she gave up and pulled up Harper’s personnel file. She scribbled down Harper’s home address then headed out of the station.

* * *

The apartment was dark when Nicole arrived and no one answered when she knocked. Glancing around quickly, Nicole made sure no one could see her before kneeling down to pick the lock. It was a cheap pin tumbler lock and Nicole had it open in no time. She slipped inside and shut the door, then flicked on the lamp that sat on a low table next to the entrance.

It was a small studio apartment with very little furniture and even fewer personal possessions. There was not a single picture in the entire place and the only thing sitting on the night stand was a beat up copy of the police manual. Nicole walked over to it and opened up the cover to see her own name scribbled in the top corner.

“Did you run this over with your car?” Nicole asked, shutting the book and turning back to the rest of the apartment.

Between the bed and the kitchen, Nicole saw a large military style duffle bag with clothes pouring out the top. She walked over to it, inspecting it carefully. On the front, there was a nametag that read “X. Dolls” followed by a number. Nicole snapped picture of it with her phone, then began searching the pockets of the bag. In the front pocket, she found a photograph folded in half. She pulled it out and opened it up.

It was a picture taken by the fence along the Homestead. Nicole saw herself standing and smiling at the camera with Waverly sitting on the fence behind her, chin resting on Nicole’s shoulder, arms wrapped around Nicole’s waist. Next to them, Wynonna stood with one foot on the lowest plank of the fence, posing dramatically with Peacemaker. Doc was on her other side, face barely visible under his hat and Jeremy knelt on the ground in front of them, arms outstretched and fingers splayed. Dolls sat at the edge of the frame, perched on top of the fence, trying not to smile, but the corners of his mouth ever so slightly turned upward. 

Nicole stared at the picture for several minutes. The picture looked real, but she had no memory of it being taken. And she had no idea why Harper would have it in a duffle bag with Dolls’ name on it. Nicole shoved the picture into her pocket and left the apartment, now with more questions than when she had arrived.

* * *

Wynonna sipped her coffee while she stared at the windshield at the cave mouth in front of them. Jeremy had insisted this was the place, but Wynonna hadn’t seen anything when they pulled up and Waverly refused to walk into a dark, possibly demon infested cave in the middle of the night. So instead they waited in Wynonna’s truck for something to happen.

Waverly sat in the passenger seat engrossed in something on her tablet. Wynonna leaned over to get a look at the screen, but the words were too small to make anything out. 

“Whatcha’ readin’?” Wynonna asked, sitting upright and looking back out at the cave. Still nothing.

“I’m just reading up on the museum in Utah,” Waverly said, scrolling further down the page. “It’s nothing exciting. They are outside of Salt Lake City and have a small Wild West collection.”

“How’d they get Turkey Creek’s book collection?” Wynonna took another sip of her coffee and wished she had thought to put some whisky in it. At this rate, they were going to be sitting outside this cave when the sun came up.

“He died in Salt Lake City,” Waverly said. “It seems someone found them and donated them to the museum. I still can’t figure out why someone would anonymously give Black Badge an article about it, though.”

“Maybe you and me should take a road trip to Utah,” Wynonna said. While she was happy to be with her sister and demon hunting gave her quite the rush, Wynonna missed traveling. She missed hitting the road and not caring about time or some great world saving responsibility.

“Uh, I don’t have a passport,” Waverly said, looking over at her sister.

“Ok, well, first of all as soon as we get home, you’re applying for one,” Wynonna said. “And secondly, I don’t think there are exactly SWAT teams patrolling the Alberta-Wyoming line.”

Before Waverly could respond, they were interrupted by a high pitched wailing sound from inside the cave. Wynonna kicked open her door and took off for the cave mouth. Waverly grabbed her flashlight and shotgun and jumped out after her sister.

“Wait!” Waverly called out. 

“That was a demon and I am not waiting any longer to shoot something,” Wynonna retorted.

“We don’t know that was a demon,” Waverly said, fighting with her flashlight. “It could have been a fox.”

“Baby girl, that is absolutely not what the fox says,” Wynonna said, pulling out Peacemaker. She resumed her walk to the cave mouth when a dark blur shot out of the opening, knocking both of them to the ground. 

Wynonna lept to her feet and searched around in the dark. Waverly waved her flashlight around searching desperately for whatever knocked them to the ground. Something moved behind them and they both spun, trying to catch sight of it, but it was gone. They stayed motionless, straining to hear any sound that could tell them where it went. 

Suddenly, something slammed Wynonna from behind. She fell into Waverly as Peacemaker went flying under her truck. As she dove for her gun, a shot rang out from the distance and demon’s body landed squarely on top of her.

Waverly jumped up and helped Wynonna push the body off of her, then helped Wynonna to her feet. They looked down at the demon, a horrible blue faceless monster, and saw a bullet wound right between where the eyes should be.

“I would have thought that only would have worked with Peacemaker,” Waverly said, turning and looking in the direction the shot had come from. There was a slight hill then a patch of trees, but it was too dark to make anything out.

“Yeah, me too,” Wynonna said, retrieving Peacemaker from under the truck. She looked up the hill and scanned the area but saw nothing. Whoever had helped them out had disappeared. “Help me get this thing in the back. We’ll take it back to Black Badge for Jeremy to take a look at.”

As they loaded the body into the truck bed, a figure watched from the darkness, glowing gun in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Wynonna watched Waverly sleep. She looked so peaceful with a small smile on her face, probably dreaming about sunflowers and cute forest creatures. Then Wynonna brought a pillow down directly on top of her head. 

“Gah!” Waverly sat bolt upright looking around frantically. Seeing Wynonna with a wide grin on her face, Waverly fell back against her pillow. “Would you stop doing that?”

“Nope,” Wynonna said, reaching down ripping off the top blanket only to find another one underneath. “Come on, you need to get up, we have to hit the road.”

“I already told you, Wynonna,” Waverly said. “I don’t have a passport so I can’t go to Utah.”

Wynonna tossed a blue passport down onto Waverly’s chest. “Dolls gotcha covered.”

Waverly sat back up, flipping excitedly through her new passport. Wynonna dropped an empty bag down on the bed.

“Get packed, it’s time for a sister road trip.”

Waverly jumped up and got dressed in a hurry. As she packed, she called Nicole to tell her they were heading out of town for a few days. A part of her was terrified that Nicole would be mad at her for leaving and demand she stay. Champ hated it when Waverly wanted to go somewhere without him. Of course he never wanted to go anywhere and as a result, Waverly had never even left Purgatory. But when Waverly explained she’d be heading to Utah with Wynonna for a few days, Nicole was thrilled for her and the only thing demanded was lots of pictures.

“And call me when you can, please,” Nicole said. “I want to hear all about your trip and I wouldn’t mind the distraction from being stuck here pulling double shifts.”

“Aw, poor baby,” Waverly said as she zipped up her bag. “I’ll definitely distract you.”

“Thanks, babe,” Nicole laughed. “I love you and have fun.”

“I love you too, bye.” Waverly hung up, swung her bag over her shoulder and went downstairs to meet her sister.

Wynonna was shoving a cooler into the cab of her truck when Waverly reached her. She gestured for Waverly to toss her bag in the truck. Waverly threw her bag in the back, then helped Wynonna get the cooler in place. Once that was set, they jumped inside the truck.

“You ready to hit the road?” Wynonna said, turning the key and bring the truck to life.

Waverly lifted her camera and snapped a picture of Wynonna. “Am I ever!”

* * *

Nicole had lied to Waverly and she felt terrible about it. It wasn’t a big lie. It would probably be considered a harmless untruth, even, but after the last couple of months, Nicole still felt bad. After today, she would not be working double shifts for the next three days. She wasn’t going to be working any shifts at all in the next three days. When she saw Harper had requested those days off, Nicole set about begging anyone who would listen to swap shifts with her until she had managed to clear all three days. The following week was going to be a nightmare, but she’d deal with that when she got there.

Harper had been unusually focused that day, following instructions and only mildly screwing up her reports. She even stopped and asked questions when she thought she might be doing something wrong. Nicole thought their talk yesterday must have worked and wondered if her plan for the next three days was just her overreacting. But then her mind wandered back to that picture and she knew she needed answers.

When Nicole found the opportunity, she sent Harper out of the office to make some completely unnecessary copies. Since Harper still didn’t know proper procedure, she didn’t argue and headed out with a large stack of papers. As she left, Nicole snagged her phone and set up the phone tracker. It wasn’t strictly legal, but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

Once Harper returned from her errand, Nicole watched her like a hawk. If anyone noticed, Nicole could just wave it off as keeping an eye on her rookie. Watching Harper so intently had the side of effect of stressing Nicole out over every little thing she did wrong. By the time lunch rolled around, Nicole’s jaw was clenched so tight she was worried she might crack a tooth.

But then Waverly called and Nicole felt the stress out melt out of her body. Waverly told her all about their trip so far. Wynonna had packed all their favorite snacks and drinks for the drive. Of course Waverly reassured Nicole that the alcohol was for the hotel. And they had been singing along to a playlist full of cheesy traveling songs like “On the Road Again” and “Life Is A Highway” that Wynonna had made. 

“Oh!” Waverly said, the sound of air rushing past her window in the background. “And I almost got arrested at the border!”

“You what?” Nicole asked, sitting forward in her seat, ready to rush out the door if needed.

“She did not!” Wynonna yelled in the background.

“Ok, not arrested,” Waverly conceded. “But I did get a stern talking too. I was just so excited to be leaving Canada that I didn’t realize you weren’t supposed to take pictures of the border checkpoint.”

“Oh, Waves,” Nicole giggled at her overzealous girlfriend. 

“I know, I know,” Waverly said. “I’m such a travel newbie. Oh! Pullover! I want to eat there!”

“Where are you at?” Nicole asked, wondering what restaurant could have made Waverly so excited.

“A real American truck stop!” Waverly gushed. “I have to go now, but I’ll call you before bed tonight.”

“Yeah she will!” Wynonna called out.

“Sounds good to me,” Nicole said. “Enjoy your lunch.”

They hung up and Nicole was plunged back into her stressful day. Whatever had Harper working so hard that morning had worn off as she was back to her usual awful at police work self. They were called out to a domestic dispute shortly after lunch and Harper spent the whole interview bouncing on her heels and fidgeting. Then when they returned to the station, she incorrectly filed her report as a B&E.

When their shift was finally over, Nicole was relieved that at the very least, she wouldn’t have to watch Harper attempt any police work over the next three days. Whatever Harper was up to, Nicole was certain it didn’t involve that. 

After Harper left, Nicole hung around a little longer under the guise of finishing up some paperwork. She watched her tracking app and saw Harper return home and stay there. When the dot didn’t move for half an hour, Nicole got up and headed home.

She ran into her house quickly to lay out some food for Calamity Jane, change and grab a small bag she had packed that morning. Nicole wanted to be ready in case Harper went out of town, which was what Nicole assumed would happen since Harper took three days in a row off. Before heading back out, Nicole double checked her app to see that Harper was still at home.

* * *

It took the Earp sisters much longer to reach Utah than anticipated. Mainly because Waverly made them stop at any place that could possibly be construed as a scenic overlook for pictures. At first, Wynonna tried to convince her that she didn’t need a picture of every single rock they passed, but eventually she gave in started helping Waverly take ridiculous pictures at each spot. 

When they finally reached their destination, it was nearly midnight. They pulled up to a dingy old motel and were greeted by a gruff desk clerk who told them the only room available was a queen. Wynonna looked skeptically out at the nearly empty parking lot, but she paid the man then went back to the truck for their things.

Once inside the room, Waverly pounced on the bed, bouncing a few times before settling in. Wynonna flopped ungracefully beside her.

“How can you have so much energy?” Wynonna said. She reached over to the nightstand and pulled the alarm clock to her so she could better see the glowing red numbers. “We’ve been on the road since seven and it’s now twelve-oh-three.”

“I’m excited to be on the best sister road trip ever,” Waverly said, hugging Wynonna tightly.

“I feel like your bar is way too low,” Wynonna said, extricating herself from her sister’s grasp. “I’m going to take a shower to get off all the truck stop grossness off. You call your girl.”

Wynonna winked then disappeared into the bathroom. Waverly waited until she heard the shower running before grabbing her phone to call Nicole. After a few rings, Waverly was worried Nicole had already gone to bed, but then that familiar sweet voice answered the phone.

“Hey, cutie!” Nicole said.

“Hey, sweetie,” Waverly said, smiling broadly. “We just got in, so I thought I’d call to say goodnight. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No, no,” Nicole said. “I was sitting on the couch reading with Calamity Jane.”

“Aw,” Waverly said. “Give her tummy scratches for me!”

“I always do,” Nicole said. Waverly stifled a yawn, but Nicole heard it anyway. “Why don’t you go to bed. It’s late and you’ve had a long day.”

“But we’ve only been talking for a minute,” Waverly said through another yawn.

“You sound like you are going to fall asleep on me,” Nicole said.

“I’d like to do.” Waverly let out a big yawn. “Something else on top of you.”

“Go to bed,” Nicole said as she laughed at her very tired girlfriend’s attempt at a come on.

“Alright,” Waverly said. “Talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, bye.”

Waverly hung up then crawled into the bed still wearing her clothes. Wynonna came out the shower to find tiny, half asleep Waverly taking up most of the bed and tightly clutching the blankets.

“Nope,” Wynonna said, pushing Waverly towards one side of the bed. “You have to share the bed and the blankets.”

Waverly tightened her grip on the blankets as Wynonna got into bed beside her. Wynonna tried to evenly distribute the blankets between them, but her little sister had an upper arm strength that rivaled Dolls. Giving in, Wynonna settled into the bed and turned to face Waverly.

“We were supposed to plan out tomorrow before we went to sleep,” Wynonna said.

“Go to museum, look at books, read about Turtle Creek,” Waverly said, eyes half closed.

“Turkey Creek,” Wynonna corrected.

“Yeah, that too,” Waverly agreed. 

Wynonna considered trying to get Waverly to actually make plans for the next day, but her eyes had completely closed and Wynonna remembered how cranky Waverly used to get when she didn’t get enough sleep. Wynonna gently brushed the hair out of her little sister’s eyes, then rolled over and went to sleep.

* * *

Nicole hung up and tossed her phone on the dashboard. She sat in her car across the street from Harper’s apartment, keeping a close eye on the place. Harper had spent most the night in her apartment, leaving only to visit the laundry room. Eventually, Harper settled onto the couch reading what looked like a stack of torn out book pages and ripped newspaper articles. 

She still appeared to be reading when Waverly called, but when Nicole got off the phone only a minute later, Harper had fallen asleep on the couch. Nicole watched her for an hour longer, then decided she probably wasn’t going anywhere until morning. She set her phone to alert her if Harper left her apartment, then reclined her seat and closed her eyes.

* * *

Harper jolted awake when her alarm went off at six. She’d fallen asleep on the couch among her notes and woke up with a map of Grande Prairie stuck to her face. Yawning, she stood up and stretched and snuck a peek out the window. Nicole’s car was still there, but Harper didn’t have time to deal with that now. Shoving her notes into her duffel, Harper did one last check to make sure she had everything then headed off. 

The air was freezing cold and Harper was pretty sure it wouldn’t get any better as she went north. She tightened her coat around her shoulders and walked down the road to the only bus stop in Purgatory. Arriving before the bus, Harper leaned on the bus stop sign and closed her eyes for a few minutes. 

“Hey, kid!” The bus driver yelled down to Harper. “You getting on or you napping?”

Harper shook herself to wake up then stepped onto the bus. She bought a ticket to Calgary and snagged a seat in the back. Pulling her notes out of her bag, she stifled another yawn and got back to reading.

* * *

Nicole’s phone buzzed loudly, jumping around on the dashboard. She sat up and struggled to grab the phone. Once she turned off the alert, Nicole saw that Harper had left the apartment. She scanned the immediate area, but didn’t see Harper. Checking the map on her phone, Harper’s dot was on the move towards the edge of town. 

Following behind at a decent distance, Nicole saw Harper board the bus to Calgary. After a brief moment of _what the hell am I doing_ , Nicole followed the bus to Calgary. Then an hour later, found herself following a second bus toward Edmonton.

* * *

“This is a museum?” Wynonna asked. They stood in front of a double wide trailer with a handmade banner over the door that read “Wild West Museum.”

“It’s better than anything Purgatory has,” Waverly said. “Come on.”

Waverly walked up the rickety wood stairs and pulled the door open a bit too forcefully so that it slammed against the wall. A woman standing just inside behind a small desk jumped at the sound and turned to glare at Waverly, who gave a small wave as she walked inside. 

“Hi,” Waverly said. “We’d like to see the Jack Johnson exhibit.”

“Ten dollars,” the woman said, still glaring. “Seven for students.”

“Ten dollars?” Wynonna said, swinging the door shut behind her with a loud bang. “For this shitty trailer?”

“Wynonna,” Waverly hissed. Then she smiled at the woman. “Two please.”

The woman rang them up and handed them each a ticket. Wynonna stared down at the ticket then looked over at Waverly and mouthed, “Why?”

Waverly gave Wynonna a look, then dragged her further into the museum. Most of the displays were handmade dioramas with descriptions taped to their edges, the text in a variety of unprofessional fonts. One wall was covered with what appeared to be children’s drawings of cowboys and old west towns. In the corner furthest from the door, there was a big sign that said “Jack Johnson of Earp Posse Fame!”

They walked over to the display that was made up of a stack of old black law books and a picture of a gaunt old man with mustache and a blank stare. Waverly read over the display’s information page only to find that they had copied and pasted her Wikipedia article.

“Well this was worth the trip,” Wynonna said, picking up one of the books and thumbing through it.

“No touching!” The woman yelled from the front of the museum. Wynonna slid the book back into position and put her hands up for the woman to see. 

“I don’t see why a pile of dusty old books would be Black Badge material,” Wynonna muttered to Waverly.

“That’s because you see nothing.”

Wynonna and Waverly jumped at the sudden appearance of a tall, blonde, bearded man dressed in all black.

“Holy shit, creep much?” Wynonna said, placing herself between Waverly and the man.

“Don’t worry,” the man said, smiling down at them. “I’m not here to kill you.”

“And yet somehow that makes me worry more,” Wynonna said. She placed a hand on Peacemaker and took a step back. Waverly glanced back over her shoulder and saw the woman at the desk reading a book, not paying any attention to the three of them.

“My master would like to take care of you himself,” the man said.

“Master?” Wynonna asked. Waverly nudged her and gestured toward a familiar black ring on the man’s finger. “Oh, Clootie. Great, that asshole has gone international.”

“I wanted to say hello,” the man said. “And tell you that we are coming.”

“Good for you,” Wynonna said. She eased Peacemaker out of its holster. Pointing it at him below the lip of the table, she was surprised to find the barrel did not glow.

“You wouldn’t shoot a human would you,” the man chuckled. “We’re coming, Wynonna Earp, and you won’t be ready.”

The man nodded then turned and left the museum. Wynonna crossed the trailer quickly to see a black SUV pulling out of the gravel parking lot.

“You’ll let any old cultist in here then?” Wynonna said to the woman at the desk.

“He had ten dollars,” she said, not looking up from her book.

Before Wynonna could retort, Waverly grabbed her elbow and dragged her out of the museum. They went back to the truck and sat inside.

“Those books must be important if the Cult of Bulshar is down here,” Waverly said, typing out a text to Dolls.

“Wait,” Wynonna said. She grabbed Waverly’s phone and deleted the text. “I don’t want him to come down here guns blazing. We just need to steal the books and get them back to Black Badge until we can figure out why the cult wants them.”

“Steal the books?” Waverly said nervously.

“Yeah,” Wynonna said, turning the truck on and pulling out of the museum’s driveway. “It’s not like it’s gonna be hard. They’re in a trailer.”

“This sounds like a terrible idea,” Waverly said.

“Probably,” Wynonna agreed. “But do you have a better one?”

Waverly thought a moment then shook her head.

“Alright then,” Wynonna said. “Time to add ‘international museum heist’ to the résumé.”

* * *

After several buses and even more hours, Harper finally made it to the Grande Prairie library. They supposedly had a journal kept by Charles “Hairlip Charlie” Smith’s wife and it was the only lead Harper had on the man. Despite being a close friend and trusted ally of the Earps, history had very little information him. 

As she walked into the library, she caught a glimpse of a red Alltrack in the reflection on the glass door. Nicole had followed her all the way up to Grande Prairie. Harper did her best to not to react and continued walking inside. She then slipped into the bathroom and began searching all her pockets. Sure enough, she found the cell phone she’d meant to leave in her apartment buried deep in her jacket pocket.

“Ok, yeah, that’s on me,” she muttered to herself, putting the phone in her pants pocket knowing that she have to ditch it somewhere later. Harper made a mental note to be more careful in the future and went in search of a librarian. 

Harper found someone at the reference desk to show her to the journal. The woman took her to a room towards the back of the building and brought out the journal. The librarian went to leave, but Harper stopped her.

“If a woman comes in who kind of looks like me,” Harper said. “Could you not tell her what I was looking at? Like, tell her I was reading newspapers or something?”

“Sure,” the librarian said as if that was not even in the top ten strange requests she’d had that day, then she walked out.

Harper sat down at a small table and set about reading the ninety year old journal. Most of the pages were shopping lists and detailed recountings of the town gossip she’d heard over tea. But then Harper got to a passage about Charles. He’d lost his moustache comb and nearly tore apart the house before finding it in his jacket pocket. That seemed to be an overreaction to a lost moustache comb, so Harper made note of it on her scrap paper.

She poured over every page of the journal for the next two hours until she found what she had been looking for. The newly widowed Mrs. Smith wrote in excruciating detail about Charles’s funeral, including the location of his grave site. Harper jotted some more notes down then stood up to leave. She headed for the side door then remembered the phone. She quickly dropped it on the ground and kicked it under the closest shelf before heading off for the cemetery, with a quick stop to the hardware store first.

* * *

Nicole watched the outside of the library for several hours before giving up and going inside. It didn’t take long for her to locate Harper’s phone under a bookshelf by the side door.

“Excuse me,” Nicole said to a librarian while pulling out her badge. “Have you seen a tall woman, red hair, brown eyes?”

“Well, I’m looking at you,” the woman said, crossing her arms.

“This is official police business, ma’am,” Nicole lied, waving her badge around for good measure.

“Fine, yeah,” she said. “And she asked me not to tell you she was looking at the Mrs. Charles Smith diary.”

“Why?” Nicole asked.

“I have no idea,” the woman said.

“Any idea where she could have gone,” Nicole asked. The woman raised an eyebrow at her. “Take an educated guess.”

“Well, if she was so interested in Charles Smith,” the woman said. “Maybe she went to visit his grave.”

Nicole got the address for the cemetery then set off in search of Harper. It was dark when she pulled up to the front entrance. The chain across the gate had been cut and tossed on the ground. Nicole carefully walked into the cemetery, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. As she approached the back of the cemetery, she heard the sound of a shovel hitting dirt and when she rounded the side of a large mausoleum, Nicole found Harper digging up a grave.

“What the hell are you doing?” Nicole shouted. Harper looked up, startled and dropped the shovel.

“There is a perfectly good explanation for this,” Harper said. 

“And that would be?” Nicole kicked the shovel away from Harper.

“Oh boy,” Harper said. “I lost my contact?”

Nicole glared at her as she gave a small smile.

“Not funny,” Harper said. “Right. I just can’t currently think of a non-illegal excuse at the moment.”

“How about the truth,” Nicole said, unclipping the strap that held her gun in place.

“You probably won’t believe me,” Harper said, watching Nicole carefully. “But if you could trust me and go back to Purgatory like nothing happened, that would be great.” Harper stepped forward to reach for the shovel she had dropped.

At Harper’s movement, Nicole whipped her gun out and pointed it at Harper’s chest. “The truth now!”

“I didn’t know Shorty’s had wet t-shirt competitions, please don’t shoot me, mom!” Harper blurted as if it were one word, wincing with her hands in the air. Nicole let her gun fall to her side.

“What did you say?” 

“The first thing you said to mama. You told me to say that to you if this situation ever came up,” Harper said, still wincing. “The wet t-shirt part, not the don’t shoot me part. But please don’t shoot me.”

Nicole shook her head, blinking furiously. “I- I don’t understand anything you are saying.”

“I’m your daughter from the future and you sent me back here to help break the Earp curse since you guys fucked it all up in my timeline,” Harper said. “It’s a lot to take in, but I’m not really Officer Harper.”

“It,” Nicole said, rubbing her forehead. “It weirdly makes sense, but makes no sense at all. Harper’s a fake name?”

“Kind of,” Harper said, relaxing now that it was clear Nicole was not going to shoot her. “When I was little, I couldn’t say Haught-Earp and so it came out like Harper and Aunt Wynonna thought that was funny so started calling me Harper, then everyone else started calling me Harper and it just kind of stuck.”

“Haught-Earp?” Nicole asked, what Harper had been saying sinking in.

“Yeah.” Harper smiled. “Waverly is my other mom. And thank you two so much by the way. Agnes Haught-Earp was _such_ a great name to go through school with.”

“I don’t know if I completely believe you,” Nicole said. “I have so many questions.”

“I would imagine so,” Harper said. “But I’m kind of halfway through a grave robbery, so if you could trust me enough to finish this, I’ll do my best to answer them somewhere else.”

“Why are you robbing a grave?” Nicole asked, looking down at the half dug up earth.

“I’m pretty sure I need this man’s mustache comb to break the curse,” Harper said.

“What?” Nicole asked, growing even more confused.

“Answers later,” Harper said, picking up two shovels and handing one to Nicole. “Digging now.”

Against what was probably her better judgement, Nicole began to dig up Charles Smith.

* * *

_Harper shoved some books and papers into her backpack, planning to meet her mama for lunch before doing some research when her mom stopped her. Harper was standing at the door, slipping her shoes on when her mom stepped into the room and cleared her throat. Harper was surprised at the way her mom looked a little nervous. She was dressed in street clothes, but the way she kept wringing her hands and trying to rest her fists on her hips made it seem like she wished for the security of her duty belt._

_“What’s up, mom?” Harper asked._

_“Do you have some time? I’d like to talk to you,” Nicole replied._

_“I was about to meet mama, but I can text her and tell her I’ll be a little late.”_

_“That’d be perfect. Meet me out in the car?” Nicole nodded and headed outside._

_A few minutes later, Harper joined Nicole, getting into the passenger seat. She drove them out to the Ghost River Triangle line, where the old “Welcome to Purgatory” sign still stood._

_“What’s going on, mom?” Harper asked again. “You’re acting super weird.”_

_Nicole killed the engine. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be.” She tapped her fingers against the steering wheel. “You know you’ll always be my little girl, but you’re twenty-one now, you’re a young woman.”_

_“I thought I had already gotten through all of these types of mother-daughter talks,” Harper joked._

_“This is a Haught-Earp exclusive.” Nicole smiled. “Listen, you’ve spent almost your whole life helping out the family. You didn’t ask to be burdened with this curse and I know it hasn’t always been easy, but god, it makes me so proud to see how you’ve risen to the challenge. To see how smart you are, how caring you are. You are truly extraordinary.”_

_“Thanks, mom,” Harper said quietly._

_Nicole looked out through the windshield at the dusty, barren prairie. “But the thing I need you to know, is that you don’t have to stay here.”_

_“What are you talking about?” Harper furrowed her brow, she must have been misunderstanding. After everything they had all been through, there was no way her mom was telling her to leave Purgatory._

_“I love you so much, but there is so much more out there, Harper. And if you want it, you have to take it. You can’t let any of us stand in your way.”_

_Harper leaned back against the headrest, taking a deep breath and exhaling loudly. “My life may not be conventional and yeah, generally speaking, as a family we’re probably all way too close.” Nicole chuckled at that. “But this is the life I want. It’s the life that I've chosen.”_

_Nicole leaned over to hug Harper. “That’s good enough for me. I just had to be sure I said the words.”_

_They sat quietly for a moment, Harper taking a moment to fully appreciate how vast the landscape was. It seemed to stretch on, right to the ends of the earth. Somehow, it made her feel safe. “This is my home,” Harper said, not a doubt in her mind. “You get it though, right?”_

_“Of course I do,” Nicole gripped Harper’s shoulder. “Your mama and I had a similar conversation before we had you. She had gotten it into her head that she was holdin’ me back.”_

_“What did you do?” Harper asked._

_“I married her.” Nicole winked and Harper’s laugh filled the car. “Speaking of your mama, how about we both go meet her for lunch.”_

_“I think she'd really like that.”_

* * *

_You’ve reached Nicole Haught. Leave a message._

“Hey, sweetie,” Waverly said to the voicemail. “Haven’t been able to get ahold of you all day, hope everything is alright. I’ll try again before bed. Byyyye!”

“Was it really necessary to call the cops right before we rob a place?” Wynonna asked, eyes fixed on the trailer.

“Har har,” Waverly said. “I haven’t heard from her all day and I’m worried. Being a cop is dangerous.”

“Says the girl about to steal right from under the noses of a murderous demon cult,” Wynonna said. “Are you ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

They got out of the truck and made their way through the dark to the museum trailer. No one was around and it didn’t look like there was any kind of alarm system. Wynonna leaned in close to check the lock then decided to try the door. It popped open without a problem.

Wynonna stepped inside, Peacemaker first and gestured for Waverly to keep watch. She inched into the museum, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Wynonna reached the books and quickly stuffed them into her bag. When she turned back to the door, Waverly was gone. 

“Waverly?” Wynonna called out. “Baby girl I swear, if you ran off to call your girlfriend, I’m gonna be so pissed.”

Wynonna stepped outside, but there was no sign of Waverly. Or anyone else for that matter. Panicking, Wynonna frantically searched the area, but could find nothing to indicate where Waverly had gone. Wynonna ran back to the truck only to find a piece of paper stuck under the windshield wiper.

She grabbed it so fast, she nearly ripped it in half. It was a note from the Cult of Bulshar demanding Wynonna hand over the books in exchange for Waverly the next day at midnight with an address at the bottom. Swearing profusely, Wynonna pulled out her phone. 

“Dolls, we’ve got a situation.”

“What’s wrong, Earp?” Dolls asked.

“Those cult fucks have Waverly,” she said, struggling to keep tears of rage out of her eyes.

Before Dolls could respond, an explosion rang out behind Wynonna. She turned to see the trailer engulfed in flames.

“Wynonna!” Dolls yelled. “What’s happening?”

“Shit fuckers,” Wynonna said. “I have to go before I get arrested for arson again. Just get your ass to Utah!”

Wynonna hung up the phone, jumped in the truck and ripped out of the driveway as fast as she could.

* * *

The waitress dropped off two decaf coffees and a dessert menu, not bothering to ask why the two customers were covered in dirt. Harper grabbed the menu, looking it over carefully, while Nicole stared intently at her face. Now that she knew the truth, she couldn’t help seeing herself and Waverly in everything Harper did. The way she lifted her eyebrows, the way her tongue flicked across her lips when thinking, her hand gestures, the way her head tilted. The list went on and on.

“Do you want to split the blueberry pie?” Harper asked. “Since it’s your favorite. But if you don’t want anything, I’m going to get the cherry. You are allergic, I am not. Though I didn’t find that out until I was eighteen since you never let me near a cherry.”

“I’m still processing,” Nicole said. She noticed Harper’s hair was the same shade of red as her own, but it was longer and pulled to the side in a braid that draped over her shoulder. She recognized it as the same way Waverly often did her own hair in the mornings.

“Cherry it is,” Harper said. “I am really excited someone knows now. I didn’t really think how terrible and lonely it would be spending so much time with you but having you not know who I am.”

“That would…” Nicole leaned closer to Harper. “I didn’t force you to become a police officer against your will, did I?”

“What?” Harper said. “No, of course not. I’m only one now so I could keep an eye on you guys and have easier access to Black Badge. Sorry about the cameras, by the way, that was not an accident.”

“Obviously you cut them to get that article to Black Badge,” Nicole said. Harper nodded then ordered her cherry pie. When the waitress left, Nicole continued. “So what’s the plan here?”

“Well, since the curse is a vendetta,” Harper said. “We figured out that we need to collect tokens from each member of Earp’s vendetta posse before we can break it. Something about lifting one vendetta to cancel the other. I’m not entirely clear on that. I’m supposed to be sending Black Badge off to get the ones we know about and hopefully getting them interested enough to start researching the damn thing, cause I have no idea what to do with all the items once we get them.”

“And you?” Nicole asked.

“I am trying to find the ones we weren’t sure about,” Harper said. “And I am praying to my Earp ancestors that this moustache comb is one of them.”

“This sounds like a terrible plan,” Nicole said, putting her face in her hands.

“Alright, judgey,” Harper said as her pie arrived. “This was your plan to begin with.”

“I came up with this plan?” Nicole asked, watching Harper shove an all too large piece of pie in her mouth and suddenly seeing Wynonna’s influence on her.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, you only had two weeks to plan and prepare,” Harper said through her mouthful of pie.

“And why did I send you?” Nicole asked. “Why would I send my daughter and not myself?”

“I’m not a time travel expert by any means,” Harper said. “But according to the witch who gave us the spell, you shouldn’t go back in time to a time where you exist. It’s my understanding that instead of altering the future, you would just create a paradox and break time.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“No it does not.”

“Ok, so why didn’t you tell us the truth when you got here?” Nicole asked.

“Because Wynonna would shoot me,” Harper laughed. “Well, shoot at me. No, no, shoot me.”

Nicole was about to protest, but then shrugged and nodded.

“Seriously, though,” Harper said. “None of you would have believed me and I’d just distract everyone from getting things done. If Waverly knew who I was, whoa boy, she would be pissed and you do not want to piss her off. It was your fault I saw a dead body for the first time and she was so mad, she made you sleep in my bed for a week while I slept with her.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Waverly,” Nicole said. “What about me?”

“You? Please,” Harper said. “One set of puppy eyes and you melt.”

Nicole nodded again. That did indeed sound like her.

“You have to keep this between us for now,” Harper begged. “The Cult of Bulshar is going to be breathing down our necks soon enough, so we don’t have time to be distracted.”

“I really don’t like this,” Nicole said, but then she looked into Harper’s big, pleading eyes. “Fine. I’ll keep it a secret for now. Emphasis on ‘for now’.”

Harper jumped up and crossed to the other side of the booth so she could hug Nicole. At first, Nicole sat stiffly, but after a moment she reached her arms around Harper and pulled her in tightly. It felt so natural, like a thing she’d done a million times before, that tears came to her eyes.

“Don’t cry, mom,” Harper said, pulling back and smiling.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole said, wiping off the tears. “But could you please call me Nicole. I’m really not in the mindset of being a mom yet.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Harper said. She pulled the pie across the table to her and resumed eating. “So, want to hear about the future?”

* * *

Wynonna paced around the small motel room. She tried to sit, but as soon as her butt hit the bed, she was back on her feet pacing. In the past several hours, she’d driven the entire town twice, but found nothing. She wanted to go back to the trailer to see if she could figure out which way they went, but the smoldering ruins were surrounded by emergency services. 

As she made another loop around the room, Wynonna’s feet became tangled in a bag dumped on the floor. She kicked it as hard as she could against the wall, sending the books scattering across the room. Cursing under her breath, she began scooping up the books and tossing them furiously into the bag when there was a loud pounding on the door.

Grabbing Peacemaker off the bed, Wynonna walked slowly to the door and eased it open, placing the barrel of the gun into the crack. Dolls stood outside scowling directly at her. She quickly undid the chain and let him in. 

“You got here fast,” Wynonna said, snatching the last book off the ground and throwing it into the bag. 

“It’s called a plane, Earp,” Dolls said. “What’s going on.”

“I told you, they have Waverly!” Wynonna snapped. 

Tears sprang to her eyes and her body began to shake. Dolls reached out and pulled Wynonna into a hug. She gripped the back of his shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. Once her breathing evened out, Dolls stepped back and looked her in the eyes.

“I need you to tell me everything that happened,” he said. 

“When we were at the museum,” Wynonna said, sitting down on the bed. “One of those Clootie cult dicks showed up, so we decided to snag the books and bring them back with us. But while I was inside, I don’t know, they grabbed her. They left a note.”

Wynonna pulled the crumpled note out of her pocket and handed it to Dolls. He smoothed it out and read over it, his frown deepening. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Wynonna asked. 

“We’re going to give them the books,” Dolls said, folding the note and slipping it into his pocket.

“That’s it?” Wynonna asked. Dolls gave her a small smile. “Oh, we’re going to _give_ them the books. Good plan.”

“Let’s go,” Dolls said.

“Where are we going?” Wynonna asked, standing up and holstering Peacemaker.

“The museum,” Dolls said. “We need to look for evidence.”

“Right.” Wynonna winced. “About that.”

* * *

Nicole knocked on Harper’s hotel room door and got no response. It was early, but Nicole wanted to get on the road. Hanging out in the town where they had just robbed a grave did not feel like a good idea. She knocked again, this time the door swinging open and revealing a half asleep Harper.

“Get ready, I want to hit the road,” Nicole said. Harper yawned and leaned against the door frame. 

“We don’t even know where we’re going yet,” Harper said. Nicole looked at her confused. “I have to figure out where to hide the comb.”

Harper stepped back and motioned for Nicole to come inside. Nicole entered the room and was guided over to a desk with the comb and several maps laid out on top of it.

“You provided me with a map of possible hiding spots,” Harper said. “But since it had been thirty years, you weren’t one hundred percent sure what would actually work in this time period.”

Nicole picked up the maps to look at the red scribblings covering it. She was surprised to find her own handwriting, but thought she was probably going to have to get used to this kind of thing. 

The map was of the Ghost River Triangle and the immediate surrounding area. All the circled points were outside the boundary with a few notes written next to each spot. Nicole recognized a few of the locations, but there were far more she didn’t. Three had black x’s through them with a short explanation in Harper’s handwriting.

“I assume you don’t want to bring it into the triangle to keep it away from Bulshar,” Nicole said. She examined each place, then pointed at a spot just outside of Purgatory. “Here. I was there a month ago. It’s secure.”

“Perfect,” Harper said. She peeled her pajama shirt off and Nicole quickly turned around.

“We are not there yet, Harper.”

“Noted,” Harper said. She pulled a t-shirt on then grabbed her change of clothes and went into the bathroom. 

Once Harper was ready, they hit the road, driving south back towards Purgatory. Harper sat in the passenger seat, bouncing her leg and fiddling with the radio, unable to sit still. Nicole glanced over at her, then placed a hand on her bouncing knee.

“Please stop doing that,” Nicole said, putting her hand back on the wheel.

“Sorry,” Harper said, switching to drumming her fingers on the car door.

“I see you inherited Waverly’s boundless energy,” Nicole said. She looked over at Harper’s drumming fingers.

“Oh yeah, I guess.” Harper stretched her fingers then folded her hands together in her lap. “There’s so much I want to talk about, but I know, you don’t want too much about the future. Even though I’m pretty sure I’ve already changed that, at least a little. And I’m nervous cause what if you don’t like me. Other you-”

“Hey, I like you,” Nicole said, quickly looking over at Harper whose face was scrunched up in worry. “This is all very confusing and weird, but we are going to figure it out. I promise.”

Harper relaxed a little, but her finger drumming started up again.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself. What did you do before becoming a terrible police officer?”

“Ouch,” Harper laughed. “Uh, demon hunter.”

“Unemployed,” Nicole said, smirking as Harper laughed again. “Where did you live?”

“At the Homestead, with you guys,” Harper said.

“Unemployed and living with your parents,” Nicole said. “We did a bang up job raising you.”

“Wynonna and Alice live there too,” Harper defended herself.

“Wait,” Nicole said with a terrified look on her face. “I have to live with Wynonna?”

Harper laughed even harder, wiping tears from her eyes as Nicole’s smile lit up her whole face. “I’m really glad you’re still you.”

They sat in silence for a few miles, each unsure what to say. Nicole glanced over at Harper again and saw the leg bouncing had resumed.

“So when we get back to Purgatory,” Nicole said, breaking the silence. “Are you going to keep working at the station?”

“Yeah,” Harper said. “I have to keep my cover. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Fine, but we are spending some serious time together to get you up to speed,” Nicole said. 

“I’m alright with that,” Harper said.

“Did I teach you nothing at all before you left?” Nicole asked. “And how did you not pick up anything from just being my kid?”

“You gave me a crash course, but I wasn’t really paying attention,” Harper admitted. Nicole shot her a disapproving look. “I had a lot going on! But growing up, I did spend a fair amount of time hanging out in your office. Police work was just never really my thing. Though I do love murder boards.”

“What every mother wants to hear,” Nicole said, shaking her head.

“When I was old enough, mama would let me help make her demon tracking murder boards,” Harper said with a growing dimpled smile on her face.

“Oh, this is Waverly’s fault,” Nicole said. “That makes it better.”

“Well, you’re the one who showed me my first dead body,” Harper said. “Want to hear the story?”

“Absolutely.”

* * *

_The waitress set down a second piece of pie in front of Harper. She kicked her eight year old legs excitedly, feet not quite reaching the ground yet. Her mom never usually let her eat this many sweets for lunch. But today was a special day. She tried to wipe the remnants of her first piece from her face, but all she managed to do was smear blueberry across her cheeks._

_“Now,” Nicole said, sliding the plate away from Harper. “Tell me what today is.”_

_“Extra Special Mommy-Daughter Day!” Harper squealed, reaching for the pie with her fork._

_“Hold on there, sport.” Nicole shifted the plate. “Remind me again, what did we do on this Extra Special Mommy-Daughter Day?”_

_“We played mini golf and we went to the zoo and I saw the sharks. They have sharp teeth.” Harper growled and flashed her own teeth dramatically._

_Nicole chuckled at her antics. “And that’s it?”_

_“Yep, can I have my pie now?” Harper whined._

_Nicole pushed the plate back in front of Harper, ruffling her daughter’s fiery red hair. Harper scrunched up her nose, but didn’t stop shoveling pie into her mouth._

* * *

_They both arrived back to the Homestead once Harper had finished off her third piece of pie and half a milkshake. Harper was bouncing off the walls, excited to tell her mama all about her day. Waverly was in the kitchen washing a few dishes when Harper bounded in, jumping into her mama’s arms._

_“Hey! There are my best girls,” Waverly said, giving Harper a soapy hug. Nicole crossed the room to kiss Waverly quickly on the cheek. “How was your big day?”_

_“Mama! We had the best day. We played mini golf and I got the green ball and Mom kept hitting hers into the water and then we saw the sharks and can we go to the library and get books about sharks?” Harper said in one breath._

_Waverly laughed. “Of course we can.”_

_“Oh, and also I drew this picture.” Harper dug through her jeans pockets and produced a folded up piece of paper. She opened it to show her mama the picture of a shark._

_“This is beautiful, sweetheart,” Waverly cooed. “I am definitely hanging this up.”_

_She turned to the refrigerator, but noticed there was something on the back of the paper. She flipped it over, slightly alarmed at what she found._

“Nicole,” Waverly said, her voice stern. “Why does our daughter have an autopsy form?”

_Nicole froze. **Shit** , she thought. She had almost gotten away with it. Before she could offer an explanation, Harper jumped in._

_“We had to stop by the station ‘cause mom needed to get a file from the pathologist. See, look.” Harper pointed to the small diagram of a human body. “I identified the ligature marks.”_

_“Why is our daughter examining human remains?” Waverly’s voice grew louder and angrier._

_“Hey!” Nicole took a step back, putting her hands up. “Her ability to identify postmortem strangulation comes from your medical books. You can’t put that on me.”_

_Waverly put her hands on her hips. “Harper, honey, can you run upstairs and wash up for dinner?”_

_“OK, but I’m not really hungry. Mom let me have a lot of pie,” She said on her way out of the room._

_Waverly turned her attention back to Nicole. “Bribing her with pie?”_

_Nicole shrugged helplessly. “I’m so sorry, Waves. I swear, I only meant to be there for a minute. But you know I would never do anything to hurt our daughter.”_

_“I know,” Waverly sighed. “And I know she’s going to have to deal with all of this stuff eventually. I was just hoping to keep her our innocent baby girl a little longer.”_

_Waverly leaned on Nicole, resting her head against the crook of her neck. Nicole let her arms drape over Waverly’s shoulders._

_“So are we good?” Nicole asked hopefully._

_Waverly stepped back sharply. “Oh, hell no. I am still furious at you. What were you thinking taking Harper to the morgue on Mommy-Daughter day?”_

_“But-” Nicole sputtered._

_“You are sleeping in Harper’s bed this week.” Waverly poked her finger sharply into the center of Nicole’s chest_.

_“There’s no way Harper and I are both gonna fit in her bed.” Nicole tried to protest._

_“Don’t worry, she’ll be sleeping with me,” Waverly said, giving Nicole a death glare before storming out of the kitchen._

_Nicole sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter, thinking of the long week she was about to have._

_“Harper!” Nicole heard Waverly call up to their daughter. “Do you want to go get some shark books while your mom cooks dinner?”_

* * *

Waverly sat in a rickety old chair tapping her fingers on a grimy plastic table watching the second hand on the wall clock tick by another minute. She was surrounded by several cloaked figures in a warehouse on the opposite side of town from the museum where they had grabbed her. Waverly assumed they had been aided in some kind of magic as she had neither seen nor heard them approach. She had been guarding the door to the trailer, shotgun in hand, one moment, then she was being thrown into the back of an SUV the next. 

Her captors had been decent enough, as far as evil demon cultists went. They didn’t tie her up or threaten to torture her and they had brought her something for breakfast. It was cold and altogether unappetizing, but she supposed it was better than nothing.

“Why didn’t you guys grab the books yourselves?” Waverly asked the closest hooded figure. “Honestly, this seems like a lot of extra work.”

The figure remained motionless.

“And why midnight?” Waverly asked. “That is so far from now. We could have been done with this hours ago.”

The figure turned its head towards Waverly, then turned away again. Resting her chin in her hand, Waverly looked around the warehouse for what felt like the thousandth time. It was small, but large enough to not be considered a shed. The empty shelves scattered about indicated that it wasn’t currently in use. The only door was at the front, guarded by two cloaked figures. Her shotgun and cell phone sat on one of the shelves by the door and the cultists seemed fairly confident that she wasn’t going to try to grab them.

A few more silent minutes passed, then Waverly’s phone began to ring. It was Nicole’s ringtone. Waverly’s heart twisted, wondering what Wynonna had told her, hoping she wasn’t panicking. Waverly trusted her sister and she hoped Nicole did too. The phone stopped, then started ringing again. The third time, one of the cultists looked at the phone, which had a picture of Nicole in her stetson surrounded by a bunch of hand drawn hearts. He rolled his eyes, then grabbed the phone and walked over to Waverly.

“Answer it. Act normal.”

Waverly took a deep breath and answered the phone. “Hello, Nicole.”

“Hello, Waverly,” Nicole said, clearly confused. “I wanted to say I was sorry for missing your calls. I was swamped.”

“Yeah, that’s great to hear,” Waverly said, eyes locked with the cultist. “We met up with some friends of Beth and Mercedes.”

“Waverly, where are you?” Nicole asked. Waverly could hear her voice switch into police mode.

“Sorry, Wynonna stepped out,” Waverly said. “Just to the depot across town.”

“Waverly, I love you and everything is going to be OK.” The cultist gestured for her to wrap it up.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Waverly said.

“Waverly-”

“I promise.” 

Waverly hung up and the cultist took the phone back. Looking up at the clock, she saw there were many more hours until midnight. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to wait that long. If Nicole got her message to Wynonna.

* * *

As soon as the call disconnected, Nicole was on the phone again calling Wynonna. She paced in front of the car at the gas pump as the phone rang.

“Not now, Haught,” Wynonna said when she picked up. _Typical Wynonna_ , Nicole thought, _not even going to mention to me Waverly’s in trouble_. Nicole shook off her anger knowing saving Waverly was the only thing that mattered right now.

“I just spoke to Waverly,” Nicole said. 

“Is she alright?” Wynonna asked. “What did she say?”

“She sounded fine,” Nicole said. “She said she’s with the cult and something about a depot on the other side of town.”

“Other side of town,” Wynonna said, thinking over the words. “There was a warehouse or two over there. That must be it.”

“I’m coming down there,” Nicole said.

“No, we got this,” Wynonna said. “Dolls is here. We’re going to get her back. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but you need to trust me. I’ll have her call you soon, don’t worry.”

Wynonna hung up before Nicole could say anything else. The pump clicked off and Nicole ripped it out of the car and struggled to get it back into its holder.

“Easy,” Harper said, coming back to the car from the convenience store, arms full of snacks. 

“We need to go now,” Nicole said, climbing into the car. Harper got in the passenger side and tossed the food in the back. “I need to go to Utah.”

“What?” Harper said. “What happened?”

“The cult kidnapped Waverly,” Nicole said, fumbling with the keys.

“But Wynonna is there?” Harper asked. She took the keys from Nicole and made Nicole look at her. “You have to trust Wynonna. We’re in Alberta and can’t do anything about that. We have a job to do here.”

“Why are you not more upset by this?” Nicole yelled. She grabbed for the keys, but Harper held them out of reach. “Don’t you care? She’s been taken by the fucking cult!”

“No, you don’t get to do that,” Harper said. “I love all of you so much I jumped through a damn time portal to save you. You don’t get it. My Purgatory is rubble. The Ghost River Triangle has fallen. Demons are everywhere. But you didn’t give up, you came up with a plan. And I went along with it because I trust you. I trust you with every fiber of my being. Right now, you need to trust me. You need to trust Wynonna. She is going to get Waverly back. We need to focus on doing our job.”

Nicole closed her eyes and placed her head on the steering wheel. She knew she couldn’t get down there to be any use, but she felt useless staying here. Harper placed a hand on her back and Nicole turned to look at her. 

“I’ll drive,” Harper said. “It will be OK.”

* * *

“Explain to me why I am not kicking that door in right now?” Wynonna said. She and Dolls stood at the edge of the treeline just beyond the warehouse located on the opposite side of town from the museum. Or at least from where the museum used to be. 

Dolls didn’t answer. He stared at the warehouse through a pair of binoculars, studying the building.

“Yeah, enough of this bullshit,” Wynonna said. She stomped forward towards the warehouse. Dolls tried to catch her arm but she shook him off.

With Peacemaker in one hand and the bag for the cultists in the other, Wynonna strutted up to the front door. Her boot hit the wood and the door crashed open, hitting one cultist and sending him to the ground. Another lunged at Wynonna, but she clubbed him hard with the bag. He crashed into a shelf, creating a domino situation. 

“Wynonna, behind you!” Waverly shouted. The first cultist had gotten back to his feet and staggered towards Wynonna. She hit him hard with the butt of Peacemaker, sending him crashing back to the floor.

The cultist by Waverly grabbed her and dragged her out of her chair. Waverly snapped her head back, connecting with her kidnappers nose. He screamed in pain and let go of Waverly. She slid under the table before he could grab her again. As he reached out for her, Waverly kicked the chair straight into his face, then crawled out the other side. Wynonna put her arm around her and pulled her out the front door with Waverly snagging her cell phone as she went by.

Dolls pulled the truck around as they cleared the door. Wynonna opened the door and Waverly jumped in while Wynonna covered them. She jumped in next and they pulled away as the cultists staggered out the door. 

“What was that, the C team?” Wynonna asked, turning around in her seat to see the cultist futilely chasing after the truck on foot. “I didn’t even get to use my dynamite!”

“You are sounding like Doc,” Waverly said. Then she threw her arms around her sister. “I knew you’d save me.”

“The plan was to do a fake drop at midnight,” Wynonna said, hugging her sister back. “But then I got call from the ginger cop. Good job getting a message to her.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” Waverly admitted. “Like you said, this was definitely the C team.”

“They must be up to something,” Dolls said. “That was too easy. Three of them? None armed?”

“And I didn’t see creepy guy from the museum anywhere,” Waverly said. “They have to be planning something else.”

“Let’s get home before we find out what that is,” Wynonna said. 

Waverly nodded her emphatic agreement as she called Nicole.

“Waverly?” Nicole asked desperately.

“I know promised I’d call tomorrow,” Waverly said. “But I hope it’s alright I’m calling now.”

“No, you have terrible timing,” Nicole said, laughing back tears. “You’re alright. What happened?”

“Nothing really,” Waverly said. “They held me for a while, then Wynonna barged in. They barely even put up a fight.”

“What did they want?” Nicole asked. “Why would they take you?”

“Oh, they wanted the books we stole,” Waverly said.

“Of course,” Nicole said. “But they didn’t fight you for them?”

“Barely,” Waverly said. “I suppose they could have been waiting for midnight.”

“Why?”

“That’s when the trade was supposed to happen,” Waverly explained.

“Risky holding a hostage that long,” Nicole said. “And a waste of time.”

“A waste of time,” Waverly said, thinking. She started hitting Wynonna’s leg. “They kept us down here a whole extra day!”

“The Homestead,” Wynonna groaned.

“Nicole, I need you to get over to the Homestead,” Waverly said.

“I will, as soon as I can,” Nicole said.

“Thank you,” Waverly said. “Be careful and call me as soon as you get there.”

They said their goodbyes then hung up. Wynonna kicked the dashboard.

“How did we not see that?” Wynonna asked.

“They took Waverly,” Dolls said. “We were distracted.”

“I cannot wait to shoot Clootie in the face.”


	3. Chapter 3

_Harper inched her way through the Homestead. She couldn’t see much in the near pitch darkness, but she kept her eye out for any sort of movement. Picking her way up the stairs, she reached the second floor without incident. Harper went into the first bedroom off the top of the stairs and flicked on the light._

_“Where have you been?” Nicole said from behind her. Harper jumped and spun around._

_“It’s just Alice-”_

_“I didn’t ask about Alice,” Nicole said. “I asked about you.”_

_Between the awful night she’d had, her mother’s disappointed stare and the overwhelming stench of the Hardy boys’ stolen beer all over her, Harper burst into tears. Nicole stepped forward and pulled Harper into a hug. Harper had grown so much in the last year that she was nearly as tall as Nicole. Another year and the teen would most likely be taller than her mother. But for now, Nicole was able to rest her chin on top of her daughter’s head and hug her tightly to her chest._

_When Harper had somewhat calmed down, Nicole led her over to the bed and they sat down together. Nicole gently pulled Harper closer and Harper rested her head on her mom’s shoulder._

_“What happened?” Nicole asked. She still wasn’t happy Harper had been sneaking around, but she couldn’t bear to see her this upset._

_“Alice wanted to meet up the Carl’s Jr. gang,” Harper rolled her eyes._

_“Who?” Nicole asked. Then she thought about it. “Oh, Champ Hardy’s kids. Fast food based insults. You’ve clearly been spending too much time with Aunt Wynonna.”_

_“So we head over to the pits,” Harper continued, wiping more tears from her face. “And they’d stolen a keg, but no one knew how to tap it, so the damn thing exploded on everyone.”_

_Harper gestured to her shirt and Nicole could see it was covered in beer stains, which explained the heavy smell of alcohol hanging around Harper._

_“Then Alice left with Jimmy,” Harper said. “And I did not want to be there anymore, so I walked home.”_

_“Harper,” Nicole said, lifting Harper’s chin to look directly into her eyes. “You can’t walk across Purgatory by yourself at night. If you are ever somewhere you don’t want to be or you can’t get home safely, you call me.”_

_“I didn’t want you to be mad,” Harper said._

_“You being safe is the most important thing,” Nicole said. “Come on, what’s it mean to be a Haught-Earp?”_

_Harper sighed. “It means we protect each other, we support each other and we trust each other.”_

_Nicole smiled broadly and hugged Harper again._

_“You know it’s really lame to have a family saying,” Harper said._

_“You just walked in at one o’clock in the morning reeking of beer,” Nicole said, standing up and holding out a hand to Harper. “It’s not a good time to insult your mama’s saying. Let’s get you cleaned up.”_

_Harper was exhausted, but didn’t want to go bed smelling like beer. And she was terrified of what would happen if Waverly found out where she was and that she walked home alone. Harper took Nicole’s hand and let herself be led out of the room._

* * *

When Nicole and Harper pulled up to the Homestead, they could see the front door was open, but there were no vehicles in sight. Nicole got out of the car, pulling out her sidearm. She motioned for Harper to stay put, but Harper rolled her eyes, grabbed her gun from her bag and followed Nicole.

“That means stay,” Nicole said, repeating her hand gesture.

“I know that,” Harper said. “But I’m ignoring it and going with you. I may be a sucky cop, but I’m one hell of a shot.”

“Fine, but stay behind me,” Nicole said. She turned back to the house and slowly made her way to the door.

The front door had been bashed in and was hanging from the bottom hinge. As Nicole looked inside, she could see the house was a mess. Furniture was flipped over and every drawer and cabinet has been opened with the contents tossed out. Nicole and Harper searched all the rooms, but whoever had done this had gone. 

“What were they looking for?” Nicole asked, setting the kitchen table back up on its feet.

“I’m guessing any Vendetta Relics,” Harper said. She picked up any unbroken plates and cups she could find and began putting them away. Nicole found a bowl and stuck it on the nearest shelf. Harper stopped her. “Oh, no, that goes over there.”

Nicole followed Harper’s finger and placed the bowl on a different shelf. Harper continued picking up while Nicole got out her phone and called Waverly.

“Hey, babe,” Nicole said. “Someone completely trashed the Homestead. I’m cleaning up now, but I won’t know if anything’s missing.”

“You don’t have to clean up,” Waverly said. “We’ll be back tomorrow. You’re probably tired, working so hard.”

“Uh, yup,” Nicole said, eyes widening as she glanced over at Harper. “Harper’s still a handful.”

“Hey,” Harper mouthed at Nicole, who just shrugged at her.

“My poor baby,” Waverly said. “But she’ll be better in no time, after all, she’s got the best teacher.”

“Maybe not,” Nicole mumbled, thinking about all the years Harper had apparently learned nothing.

“What was that?” Waverly asked.

“Nothing,” Nicole said. Harper bobbled a glass vase that Nicole managed to catch one handed before it hit the ground. “I should probably go. Drive safe and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nicole hung up and glared at Harper as she took the vase back, grimacing. They spent the rest of their evening picking up and putting the furniture back. Harper even ran out to the barn to get the toolbox so they could fix the front door. 

Once the door was repaired, Harper stood back to admire their work. “See, I did learn a few things from you.”

“What form do you fill out for a missing pet?” Nicole asked, holding onto the front of her belt in the way Harper recognized as her Sheriff Haught-Earp stance.

“I don’t know,” Harper said. “83-1C?”

“That’s the new car registration form,” Nicole said. “We literally went over this two days ago. It’s like I’m speaking to you in Latin.”

“Nihil! Scio hoc!” Harper said, smirking.

“Can I ground you?” Nicole asked. “Cause I’d really like to right now.”

“No,” Harper said. “But I have some cookie dough ice cream in my freezer so you can come over for a study party.”

Harper did a little dance with her shoulders and Nicole couldn’t help but laugh. They secured the front door to the house, then set off for Harper’s place.

* * *

Wynonna and Waverly made it back to the Homestead early the next morning. The place had mostly been cleaned up and Waverly thought Nicole must have been at it for several hours the night before. They went about checking their possessions to see if anything was missing, but other than things listed on Nicole’s “sorry it got broken” list, nothing was missing.

“What were they looking for?” Wynonna said, scooping up her underwear that was strewn across the floor. “I mean, they didn’t even steal one bra!”

“I don’t know,” Waverly called from her room. “But maybe we shouldn’t keep those books here.”

Wynonna shoved the last of her clothes in a drawer then headed over to Waverly’s room to see if she needed any help putting her clothes away, but there were no clothes on her floor.

“Hey, no fair,” Wynonna said. “Haught didn’t fold my clothes.”

Waverly rolled her eyes then looked over at Wynonna. “Clearly this is bigger than those books.”

“I was thinking about that,” Wynonna said. “I think whoever slipped us that article wanted us out of the way for a while.”

“So someone with access to the station is secretly working with the cult,” Waverly said. “But no one at the station has done anything suspicious before.”

“Yeah, but there’s a new rookie in town,” Wynonna said.

“Who is pretty bad at being a cop,” Waverly said.

“So you’re thinking what I’m thinking?” Wynonna asked.

“That Officer Harper is a fake police officer works for the cult and is here to sabotage our attempts at breaking the Earp Curse?” Waverly asked.

“You betcha,” Wynonna said. “I think we need to head down there and have a word with our least favorite ginger cop.”

When they reached the station, they barged right to the reception desk and demanded to see Officer Harper. 

“She’s not in today,” the officer at the desk said, not looking up from his crossword.

“Alright, where’s Nicole?” Waverly asked, looking past the officer at Nicole’s vacant desk.

“She’s not in today, either,” the officer said. “When she took three days off, I assumed it was so you two could,” he looked up at her and smiled, “well, you know.”

“You’re a creep,” Wynonna said, grabbing her sister by the elbow and pulling her out of the room. They went into the Black Badge office and found Jeremy dissecting the blue demon they had faced off against a few nights before. “Jeremy, have you seen Nicole?”

“No,” he said after a moment. “Not since two days ago. I asked her to hang out after work, but she said she had to look into something. I thought we had really bonded when Widow Mercedes kidnapped us, but maybe not.”

“Wynonna,” Waverly said, ignoring Jeremy’s commentary. “Nicole said she suspected Harper was up to something. What if she got too close? What if they got to her when I sent her to the Homestead? What if-”

“Deep breaths, baby girl,” Wynonna said. “How about we start by calling her?”

“Right,” Waverly said, pulling out her phone. It rang and rang but Nicole didn’t pick up. When it went to voicemail, Waverly hung up and dialed again. After a few rings, Nicole picked up.

“Hello?” Nicole sounded tired and groggy.

“Baby, are you alright? Did they drug you? Where are you?” Waverly asked in rapid succession.

“What?” Nicole asked. “I’m fine. Did who drug me?”

“The cult!” Waverly said.

“No, no, I’m fine, I swear,” Nicole said. “I was up late helping Harper. I fell asleep on her couch, that’s all.”

“Nicole, baby, you need to get out of there,” Waverly said, reaching out and grabbing Wynonna’s arm. Then to Wynonna, “She’s at Harper’s.”

“Get out there, Haught mess!” Wynonna yelled toward the phone making Waverly wince.

“What are you talking about?” Nicole asked, still clearly half asleep.

“Harper is in the cult!” Waverly said.

“No, she’s not,” Nicole yawned. 

“You’re the one who started investigating her!” Waverly said, pulling Wynonna toward the door. If Nicole wasn’t going to leave, Waverly was going to drag her out.

“Oh yeah,” Nicole said. Waverly could hear another voice on the other end of the line but couldn’t make out what it was saying. “Look, I was wrong. I was super wrong. Harper is...she’s fine.”

“Is holding you hostage?” Waverly asked as they made their way to Wynonna’s truck. “If she is, say ‘tacos are tasty.’ We are coming to get you.”

“No!” Nicole said quickly. “Uh, no, I’ll come meet you. I just...I need you to trust me. Harper is not in the cult.”

“What’s going on?” Wynonna asked when Waverly stopped in front of the truck.

“She says to trust her that Harper isn’t in the cult,” Waverly relayed.

“That’s it?” Wynonna asked. “I think we need a little more than that.”

“I’ll meet you somewhere,” Nicole repeated. “And I’ll, uh, explain.”

“The diner,” Waverly said. “Ten minutes.”

* * *

“What do you mean you’re going to explain?” Harper asked, panicking about the conversation she’d overheard.

“I don’t know!” Nicole said. “But they think you’re in the cult!”

“I’m not in the cult!” Harper said. “That’s the opposite of what I am!”

“I know!” Nicole said. 

They stood in Harper’s apartment staring at each other in a panic. Harper had not expected Waverly and Wynonna to think she was in the cult and she guessed Nicole, future or present, hadn’t guessed that either.

“I’ll come with you and we’ll figure it out on the way,” Harper said, picking up her jacket from the back of the couch.

“No, you should stay here,” Nicole said, pacing and trying to think of a plan.

“I really wish you would stop telling me that,” Harper said.

“Harper, please,” Nicole said. Harper dropped her jacket, yielding to Nicole’s request. “Are you sure we can’t just tell them?”

“You are not fathoming the rage of Waverly Haught-Earp,” Harper said. “The dead body thing was merely scratching the surface of the pit of rage inside that tiny woman. There is a very good reason we did not tell her about this before I left.”

“You didn’t say goodbye to your mother,” Nicole said, suddenly looking very sad. 

“We don’t have time to get into the deep sadnesses of my life,” Harper said. “Besides, I’m here to fix that! We need to get them back to doing their job so I can do my job. Then we can all come together and sing kumbaya while Wynonna shoots Clootie in the face.”

“Personally, right now me thinks we should just tell them,” Nicole said. “But if future me didn’t want to, I guess I’ll come up with something.” 

Nicole left Harper and went to the diner to meet up with Waverly and Wynonna. She could see through the window that they had already gotten a table. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked inside. 

Upon seeing Nicole, Waverly jumped out of her seat and leapt into Nicole’s arms. Nicole closed her eyes and squeezed Waverly tightly. It had only been a few days, but it felt so much longer. Everything had changed and Nicole wished she could tell Waverly, but she had made a promise. _To their daughter_. And she wouldn’t break it.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Wynonna said from the table. “You have some explaining to do, Nicole.”

“Ok, yes,” Nicole said as she and Waverly sat down at the table. “So I suspected Harper of being up to something, but she’s good.”

“That’s not an explanation, Red,” Wynonna said, growing impatient.

“I know,” Nicole said. She steeled herself then launched into what she rehearsed in the car. “I can’t tell you everything because it’s her secret to tell, not mine, and I made a promise. But I can tell you that her mother is a sheriff and wanted her to do this huge, life altering career change and she’s struggling. I’m helping her. That’s it.”

Nicole exhaled sharply, feeling better about not really lying. Waverly took her hand and smiled.

“You trust her?” Waverly asked.

“Completely,” Nicole said.

“OK,” Waverly said, leaning in and giving Nicole a quick kiss. 

“That’s it?” Wynonna asked. “We’re trusting her?”

“Yes, because we trust each other,” Waverly said. She looked between Wynonna and Nicole. “All of us. And I’m sure if we make Harper feel comfortable and welcome here, she’ll tell us the truth.”

“Oh god I hope so,” Nicole mumbled. Waverly tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at Nicole who just gave her a tight lipped smile.

“Then we’re back at square one,” Wynonna said dropping her head down on the table.

“Maybe you should look into the rest of the Vendetta Posse,” Nicole suggested. “I mean, since that’s like _the thing_ Jack Johnson was known for.”

“My brilliant baby,” Waverly said, beaming at her. Nicole blushed and dipped her head down. Wynonna rolled her eyes and made a gagging noise before picking up one of the menus.

“Breakfast, then more research,” Wynonna said, opening up her menu. “Yay.”

* * *

Waverly stared at her Vendetta board, one arm across her chest, the other resting on top of it, hand at her mouth. She’d been working on it for a week, putting a profile of each member of the posse on the board with a possible list of important items and locations linked to each. Then this morning she had come in and the strings had moved, the lists had changed and the members had moved locations. She didn’t exactly have the board memorized, but she did know it was now very different.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Wynonna said as she waltzed into the office.

“Well good morning to you too,” Waverly said, turning around and smiling at Wynonna.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Wynonna said. She crossed over to the large table of the center of the room and scooped up a chocolate iced donut with plenty of sprinkles.

“Yup, should have known better,” Waverly said, returning to her board. “Wynonna, were you touching my board.”

“Whoa, noh unil ih muys me inner,” Wynonna said, mouth full of donut and sprinkles falling down her shirt.

“Someone has been playing with my board,” Waverly said. Then she put a finger in the air. “Don’t even.”

Wynonna pouted then went back to eating her donut. Jeremy walked in, eyes down on his clipboard.

“Have you been touching my board?” Waverly asked him.

“You know I’m not into girl boards,” Jeremy said. Wynonna stuck her hand out and he slapped it as he walked by.

“Everyone needs to stop making sex jokes about my board,” Waverly said. She crossed her arms and glared at them.

“You’re putting them right in front of us, Waves,” Wynonna said. 

“This is serious,” Waverly said. “If it wasn’t any of you, then someone got into our office.”

“That would be a problem,” Jeremy said. “You think it’s the same person who slipped us that article from the future past? Oh! Maybe there is a time slip in here and we’re accidently touching the future!”

“On that note, I’m going to see if Nicole can get us the security footage,” Waverly said. 

She bounced out of the room and across the hall. Nicole was sitting over next to Harper’s desk explaining some proper procedure to her. Over the past week, Nicole had spent much of her time teaching Harper and the rookie officer did start showing improvement. When Waverly caught Nicole’s attention, her face lit up with her big dimpled smile.

“Can you take a break?” Waverly asked, leaning forward on the front desk.

“Go,” Harper said. “I’ve got it.”

Nicole got up and they walked over to the break room together. Waverly made sure the room was empty then shut the door.

“What’s going on, Waves?” Nicole asked.

“I need the security tapes from last night to this morning,” Waverly said. “Someone touched my board.”

“Your Earp Vendetta Ride Posse board?” Nicole asked. She stepped closer to Waverly and rubbed her arms. Waverly nodded. “Well, was there any sign of forced entry?”

“I didn’t look,” Waverly said. “I didn’t think about that. But you can get me the tapes.”

“They’re files, not tapes,” Nicole laughed. Waverly rolled her eyes playfully. “But yeah, I can get them for you.”

“Thank you,” Waverly said. She reached up and ran her fingers through Nicole’s hair. Nicole put her hands on Waverly’s waist and bent down to kiss her.

“Oh, sorry,” Harper said, from the doorway. She quickly moved to shut the door, but Nicole stepped back and caught the door. 

“We were just leaving,” Nicole said. She held the door for Waverly who headed out into the hall. Harper nodded at Waverly as she went by. Nicole stopped next to Harper. “We need to talk.”

Nicole followed Waverly down the hall back to the Black Badge office. She pretended to check the door, then reported it wasn’t forced.

“You sure it’s not the rookie?” Wynonna asked, sitting on the edge of the table.

“Wynonna,” Waverly said. Then to Nicole, “You should invite her to lunch with us.”

“Really?” Nicole asked.

“Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Waverly asked, frowning.

“No!” Nicole said. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nicole smiled, suddenly excited at the three of them having lunch together. “She could use some more friends.”

“Ok, would you two stop staring at each other?” Wynonna said. “I’m gonna barf my donuts.”

* * *

Harper had disappeared by the time Nicole made it back to her desk. She asked around but no one knew where she went. Nicole texted Harper.

_We need to talk._

Then after a moment’s thought, she texted again.

_Waverly wants you to come to lunch._

Nicole went back to work and shortly before lunch, Harper reappeared in the office. She walked over to Nicole and sat on the edge of her desk.

“You wanted to talk about something?” Harper said, smiling innocently. Nicole glared at her.

“We had a deal,” Nicole said. “You are supposed to tell me before you do these things.”

“I did call you,” Harper said. “Repeatedly. You didn’t answer.”

Nicole picked up her phone and opened the call log. Sure enough, there were several missed calls from Harper.

“I’m going to assume you went to a movie and turned it off,” Harper said. “Besides, all I did was fix the board.”

“Waverly has asked for the security footage,” Nicole said, holding up a usb. “What is she going to see on here?”

“Nothing,” Harper said. “I took care of it.”

“Great,” Nicole said. Waverly poked her head around the doorway and waved to Nicole. Standing up, Nicole pocketed the usb. “Let’s go.”

Harper smiled and followed Nicole out to meet Waverly. 

“I’m Waverly,” she said, holding out her hand. “I don’t think we’ve been formerly introduced.”

“Harper,” Harper said, shaking Waverly’s hand. 

“Do you have a first name?” Waverly asked.

“I do,” Harper nodded. “But I prefer Harper.”

“So are we ready to go?” Waverly asked. Nicole and Harper nodded, but then Waverly felt her pockets. “I forgot my phone! Be right back.”

As Waverly ran back into the Black Badge office, Nicole turned to Harper. “We named you after my favorite grandmother, you know,” Nicole said, looking pleased at their naming choice. 

Harper rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

Waverly bounced back into the hall and they walked out of the building towards Shorty’s. Nicole took Waverly’s hand as she rambled on about Purgatory, Harper politely listening. Shorty’s was packed with regulars, but they managed to grab a table in the back.

“Nicole tells me your mother is a sheriff?” Waverly said. She crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward towards Harper.

“One of them is,” Harper said, glancing over at Nicole.

“Oh, what’s the other do?” Waverly asked.

“Uh,” Harper said poking her tongue out a little while she thought how best to answer. “She’s a researcher.”

“Where does she work?” Waverly pressed. “What does she research?”

“Baby, you’re asking a lot of questions,” Nicole said. “This isn’t an interrogation.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Waverly said. She laughed and tilted her head. “I just want to get to know the new girl in town. Make you feel welcome.”

“I appreciate that,” Harper said. “I could use some more friends.”

“Aw,” Waverly said, reaching out and taking Harper’s hand. Harper looked down at her hand, then back up at Waverly

“So what’s good here?” Harper asked, picking up a menu. She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear her mama say it anyway.

* * *

_Harper pushed through the door of Shorty’s. The bar wasn’t technically open yet, but that was the benefit of having the place in the family. She bounded down the stairs making sure to skip the second to last broken step that was probably never going to get fixed. She dumped her gym bag in the middle of the floor and made a dramatic leap into a bar stool._

_“Doc!” She called into the back room. “Can I get some fries?”_

_When Harper didn’t get an immediate response, she ducked around the counter and was about to help herself to a soda when her mama appeared._

_“Where are your manners, girl?” Waverly snapped Harper with a towel, shooing her back to the other side of the bar. “Were you raised in a barn?”_

_“Basically,” Harper joked back._

_“I should have a talk with your parents. They did a terrible job raising you.” Waverly smiled as she retrieved a glass from under the bar to get Harper her soda. “Speaking of your parents, is your mom coming in?”_

_“Nah, she was just dropping me off, said she had to run back to the station but that she’d be home for dinner.” Harper answered after downing nearly the entire drink._

_“So, how was your game?” Waverly asked, cleaning a few dirty glasses that had been left from the night before._

_“Good, it was close, but we won. Julie’s arm is still not right, so Liz had to pitch the last couple of innings. I hit a triple,” Harper said._

_“That’s great, sweetheart.”_

_“What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were busy or something,” Harper said, finishing the rest of her soda._

_“You’re looking at it.” Waverly waved the towel dramatically. “Doc asked me to help with inventory.”_

_“That’s right. I forgot you used to work here.” Harper ran her finger over the condensation from her glass, tracing a few shapes on the bar top. Waverly could see that there was something bothering her._

_“Something else on your mind?” Waverly asked gently._

_“Bethany was there.” Bethany was one of Harper’s classmates. She and Harper had danced around each other through the fall semester before Bethany finally grabbed Harper and kissed her over winter break. They had gone on a few official dates but Harper still wasn’t sure exactly what they were doing._

_“You two are getting pretty serious.” Waverly said._

_“I don’t know. I guess. The thing is, I’m not sure why she likes me. I wonder if it’s some sort of joke.” Harper slumped over the counter, resting her head against the bar._

_Waverly sat down next to Harper, pulling her back up. “Don’t ever think that. You are an amazing kid. You’re intelligent and big-hearted, anyone would be lucky to be with you.” Waverly lifted Harper’s chin with her fingers. “And listen, like it or not, you’ve got that six foot Haught swagger that no girl can resist.”_

_Harper groaned and Waverly laughed, patting her daughter’s cheek. Waverly got up to tidy a few more things. Harper watched her move around the bar, trying to imagine what it was like when her mama was her age._

_“Where did you and mom meet?” Harper finally asked._

_“Here of course.” Waverly chuckled at the memory. “She strolled right through those doors one day and told me she when she sees something she wants, she doesn’t like to wait. And what she wanted was me.”_

_“Damn,” Harper sighed, “Mom has got some serious game.”_

_“That she does.” Waverly smiled wistfully. “But don’t say that to her. If her ego gets any bigger she won’t be able to wear her Stetson.”_

_Waverly dropped the towel on the counter and went to head back into the stockroom._

_“Hey, can I get some fries now?” Harper asked._

_“I could whip you up a quinoa and smoked tofu salad,” Waverly offered, only to be met with Harper making an exaggerated gagging face. “OK, OK. Fries it is. I knew I shouldn’t have let Wynonna babysit you so much. You have her terrible eating habits.”_

* * *

Waverly spent hours going through the footage Nicole had given her. It was hours of staring at empty halls and rooms. No one came anywhere near the Black Badge office. Wynonna had already fallen asleep next to her and she was about to give up when she noticed something odd on the reception desk. She rewound and played the video a few times to make sure.

“Wynonna,” Waverly said, nudging her drooling sister. Wynonna grumbled and sat up in her chair. “Wynonna, look at this.”

“You’re still doing that?” Wynonna asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Yes, I am,” Waverly said. “Now look right here.”

Wynonna leaned in and looked where Waverly was pointing. Waverly rewound the video and played it again. The reception desk was mostly in frame, just the edge out of sight. In the very corner of the video, there was a dark blob one second and it was gone the next.

“What am I looking at?” Wynonna asked.

“The blob!” Waverly said, rolling back the video again. “See look, it disappears!”

“Are you sure that’s not a camera smudge?” Wynonna squinted at the screen. 

“Someone tampered with this file.” Waverly rewound and played the video several more times keeping her finger pressed to the screen.

“I had a look at those files, Waverly,” Doc said, walking into the office. “Oh, I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”

“No,” Wynonna said, quickly jumping up, hoping for something to do other than sitting in the office. “What you got for us?”

“Waverly asked me to see if any of these items jumped out at me,” Doc said. He held up a folder for Wynonna to see. “I do believe I found one of particular interest.”

Doc pulled out the top page out of the folder and handed it to Wynonna. It was a blown up section of an old photograph focused on an old bible. Wynonna examined it, then handed it over to Waverly.

“Texas Jack always had that bible on him,” Doc said. “If you are looking for his most important possession, it will be that.”

“Any idea where we can find it?” Wynonna asked.

“That is something I do not know,” Doc said. 

“Oh,” Waverly said excitedly. She raced across the room over to her board. Following several bits of string before ending on a map. “Right there! The old Purgatory church.”

“Didn’t that burn down?” Wynonna asked. “You know, with me in it?”

“Not that old church,” Waverly said. “The other one.”

“Oh, the one that’s a biker bar,” Wynonna said, nodding.

“Not that one either,” Waverly sighed. Wynonna opened her mouth to talk again, but Waverly cut her off. “It will be faster if I just tell you which one.”

“No fun, but go ahead,” Wynonna said.

“The one they tore down to build the high school.”

“I have to go back to high school?” Wynonna asked. “Again?”

* * *

Nicole rubbed her hands together against the cold then knocked on Harper’s door. She’d gotten a text to meet there after work. Before Nicole could come up with a reason to cancel her plans with Waverly, Waverly had asked to reschedule so she could investigate the video files. 

The door swung open and Harper ushered her inside. A board had appeared on her wall since the last time Nicole was there. It looked a lot like the one Waverly had set up in the Black Badge offices.

“I rearranged their board to point them at McMaster’s badge,” Harper said. “And while they do that, we are going to get Texas Jack’s bible.”

“So you found another one?” Nicole said. She stepped over to the board to get a closer look. None of it made any sense to Nicole.

“We already knew where it was,” Harper said. “It’s just pretty simple to grab. McMaster’s badge is going to require more manpower.”

“Alright, where are we going?” Nicole asked, turning to look at Harper. She had her head tilted in the same way Waverly always did when looking over her research boards. 

“The high school,” Harper said. “The bible we need was buried with the preacher. He was buried under the church which was leveled to build the school. This being Purgatory, no one actually bothered to make sure nothing was in the ground before building. So we need to go into the basement, rip up the floor and grab the book.”

“Oh, is that all?” Nicole asked. 

Harper handed Nicole her duffle bag, now full of tools, then dug something out from under the bed that Nicole couldn’t quite see. Stuffing whatever it was under her jacket, Harper led the way out of her apartment towards their mission.

* * *

Wynonna and Waverly headed over to the high school while Doc went to track down Dolls. That feeling that they were hiding something came creeping up again, but Wynonna shook it off. There were other things to worry about right now. The first being how Wynonna was going to say what she needed to say without breaking Waverly’s heart. 

Waverly sat next to Wynonna reading through several pages of notes she’d pulled off her research board. She’d spent some time that morning putting the board back the way it was after their little intruder problem. Wynonna had been thinking about the past two weeks and the edited video and had come up with a theory she was certain Waverly was going to hate.

Taking a deep breath, Wynonna dove right in. “Have you noticed how much Nicole looks like that rookie cop?”

“Not all redheads look alike, Wynonna,” Waverly said without looking up from her notes.

“No, seriously,” Wynonna said. “Those two look alike. Like, related look alike.”

Waverly gave Wynonna her ‘where is this going’ face and so Wynonna changed tactics.

“I’m wondering about the break in,” Wynonna said. Waverly rolled her eyes so hard Wynonna thought her eyes might pop out.

“Nicole and Harper are not working together in some evil scheme,” Waverly said, exhausted by her sister’s constant doubting of her girlfriend. “Nicole said so and we trust Nicole.”

“OK, but hear me out,” Wynonna said. “Nicole said that Harper is fine, whatever that means. She never said Harper wasn’t breaking into Black Badge to mess with shit.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Waverly said.

“What if Harper is some long lost relative of Haught’s who’s gotten into trouble with the cult and Nicole is helping her,” Wynonna said. “I’m not saying Nicole is an evil cultist, I’m saying she kind of has a thing for going above and beyond to protect the people she loves.”

“Nicole is not involved,” Waverly said, growing more annoyed. “And Harper is not some secret relative! That doesn’t make any sense and you are seeing conspiracies where there aren’t any cause you’re freaking out about not being able to stop Bulshar and stop dragging my girlfriend into it!”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

They finished their drive to the high school in silence and when they arrived, Waverly jumped out of the truck and slammed the door before Wynonna even turned off the engine. Wynonna thought about saying something, but was fairly certain she would only make it worse, so followed Waverly into the school without a word.

The front doors were locked, but a side door by the janitor’s storage room had been left propped open. For a town where people ended up missing or dead a lot, no one was terribly good at remembering to lock their doors. They went inside and walked over to the basement door, which was also propped open.

Wynonna put her hand out in front of Waverly and slowly pushed the door open wider. There was light coming from the bottom of the stairs as well as the sound of someone breaking through the floor. Wynonna readied Peacemaker and stepped forward onto the stairs.

Waverly caught Wynonna’s elbow and whispered, “Shouldn’t we wait for Doc and Dolls?”

“No time,” Wynonna whispered back. She walked down the stairs with Waverly close on her heels.

Peering ahead, Wynonna could see two figures kneeling over the beginnings of a hole in the cement floor. They were working quickly and in silence. Wynonna reached the bottom of the stairs, positioning herself to block any chance of escape.

“Hands up, you cultist jerks,” Wynonna said. The two figures froze.

“Cultist jerks?” Waverly asked, raising her eyebrows.

“I didn’t have anything prepared,” Wynonna shot back. “Get up and tell us what the hell you think you’re doing.”

The figures stood up and they recognized them immediately. Wynonna’s heart sank for Waverly. She normally loved being right, but this time she’d really hoped to be wrong.

“Nicole!” Waverly shouted. Nicole gave a crooked half smile and a small wave. Harper stood next to her with a very similar expression. “What are you two doing here?”

“Well, uh,” Nicole said.

“There was...” Harper said at the same time.

“A disturbance!” Nicole added.

“Yeah,” Harper agreed. “What she said.”

“You lied to me!” Waverly yelled at Nicole. Wynonna kept her gun trained on Nicole and Harper, unsure what to do.

“No!” Nicole said. “No, absolutely not.”

“So Harper had nothing to do with the Black Badge break in?” Waverly pushed. Nicole looked sick and Harper looked down. “So you are working with the cult.”

“No,” Harper said, looking frantically over at Nicole. “I can exp-”

“I’m not talking to you,” Waverly snapped. “Nicole, tell me this has nothing to do with the cult.”

“We are not working for the cult,” Nicole said. She glanced over at Harper who nodded. “You see, Harper is-”

Before she could finish, the floor behind them erupted knocking all four of them off their feet. Wynonna and Waverly landed in the stairwell while Nicole slammed into the wall. Harper hit the floor hard but quickly spun around, pulling Peacemaker out from her jacket.

A dark cloud enveloped them all, making it impossible to see. Harper raised Peacemaker toward the center of the cloud and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked uselessly. She tried again. Same result. The darkness grew around her and she couldn’t breathe. 

Wynonna could barely see into the room, but she could hear someone gasping for air. She lifted Peacemaker, the barrel glowing, and fired. The black cloud dissipated, leaving behind Nicole and Harper, unconscious on the floor. Waverly sprinted across the room, sliding the last several feet to where Nicole lay. 

“She’s alive,” Waverly said breathlessly, looking up at Wynonna with tears in her eyes. Wynonna walked over to Harper and saw that she too was alive.

“We should get them back to the Homestead,” Wynonna said. “And figure out what the hell is going on.”

* * *

_Wynonna’s voice echoed through the thin walls of the principal’s office. Harper had been lingering outside of the door to the administration office under the guise of locating a pen from the bottom of her bag for nearly ten minutes. She could see the outline of Alice through the frosted glass. She was slumped deep in a chair next to the secretary’s desk._

_Her aunt Wynonna had torn into the school, absolutely livid after getting a call from the guidance counselor saying Alice had gotten into another fight. Her third fight this term and she’d already been told that she had used up all her warnings._

_Doors slammed and Wynonna dragged Alice into the hallway by the sleeve of her jacket._

_“I’m not sure who I want to shoot first - you, or that son of a bitch fascist who calls himself an educator,” Wynonna said, pressing her fingers into her temples._

_“Why don’t you do me a favor for once and shoot me first so I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”_

_“Girl, I don’t want to hear it. Because neither you or Bud are willing to talk, they’re just going to assume you’re the instigator, given your record.”_

_“Fuck them,” Alice spat._

_“Watch your mouth. You should be thanking me for talking that shit-ticket of a principal into giving you a three day suspension rather than expelling your ass.”_

_“You’re so magnanimous.” Alice slung her backpack over her shoulder._

_“I have too much shit to do and I can’t deal with you, so I don’t want to see you at the Homestead this week.” Wynonna stormed out of the building, Alice flicking her off as she left._

_Harper stood in the hallway, pressed up against the wall. She finally got a good look at Alice. Her lip and eyebrow were split, blood trailed down her front and the collar of her shirt was ripped._

_“Shit, Alice. Are you OK?” Harper asked, pulling a water bottle from her bag and handing it to Alice._

_“Yeah, I’m sure Doc’ll let me stay with him at Shorty’s,” Alice answered, taking a long swig._

_“That’s not what I meant. Why didn’t you tell them what happened?”_

_“Not much to tell.” Alice shrugged. “I got sick of Bud’s face so I thought I’d rearrange it.”_

_Harper hadn’t seen the fight, but Emma Nedley was more than happy to fill her in. Emma didn’t have all the details, but she saw most of the confrontation from the practice field during gym. Alice, Carl, and Bud had all skipped fourth period to smoke in the parking lot when Alice and Bud got into it._

_“And I heard,” Emma had whispered dramatically to Harper over their lunch table. “From Becka, that Carl told her that it was because Bud called your moms dykes.”_

_Harper hadn’t stuck around to listen to any more of the story. She stood up sharply from the table, knocking the chair back and made a beeline straight to the office. Wynonna was well into her ‘discussion’ with the principal regarding Alice’s behavior by the time she got there._

_“I’m serious, Alice. Aunt Wynonna wouldn’t have been upset if she knew you were sticking up for the family.”_

_“Bud’s an asshole.” Alice said, “Not much else to it.”_

_She shrugged, turning toward the heavy double doors that led outside._

_“Hey, Alice,” Harper called to her. “For whatever reason you did it. Thank you.”_

_Alice nodded, flipping the empty bottle back to Harper before walking out of the school._

* * *

Nicole woke up sore and confused. She remembered Waverly finding her with Harper in the basement and she remembered how hurt Waverly looked. Nicole shook her head then opened her eyes to find herself at the Homestead, sitting at the kitchen table with Waverly sitting across from her, eyes red from crying.

“Waves, baby.” Nicole went to move to Waverly but found she was handcuffed to the chair. Waverly’s eyes darted away from Nicole and Nicole had to blink back her own tears.

Next to her, Harper began thrashing against her restraints. Eyes still closed, she fought so hard the chair fell over and Harper’s head hit the floor with a crack. Wynonna stepped into the room and righted the chair as Harper blinked her eyes open.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Harper asked, dazed. Nicole twisted in her seat to get a better look at Harper. From her angle, Nicole couldn’t see any outward injuries, but she feared Harper may have had a concussion.

“Your mom’s not here, rook,” Wynonna said. She perched on the edge of the kitchen table, looking down at Harper. “Care to tell me where you got this?”

Wynonna slammed Peacemaker down on the table while holding another Peacemaker in her other hand. Harper squinted down at the gun in front of her and frowned.

“It got dropped,” Harper mumbled. “I tried to give it back, but it was too late. But it didn’t work. It broke.”

“Stop,” Nicole said, looking between Wynonna and Waverly. “She needs to go to a hospital.” Nicole locked eyes with Waverly. “Please. She’s our daughter. She came back through a time portal to break the Earp curse. That’s why I’ve been helping her. We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to worry you. Please, just get her to a hospital.”

All the anger and hurt on Waverly’s face melted away and she turned to look at Harper whose head had drooped down, chin hitting her chest. Waverly stood up, walked around the table and undid Harper’s restraints.

“What the hell are you doing?” Wynonna asked. Waverly shot her a glare, then undid Nicole’s as well. Nicole reached for Harper and lifted her chin, forcing them to make eye contact.

“What’s going on, mom?” Harper asked, eyelids slowly closing.

“You can’t possibly believe that?” Wynonna said, throwing her hands up in the air. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Jeremy said that article was around 30 years old but dated a few days before,” Waverly said, kneeling beside Harper. “Whoever rearranged my board knew exactly how I organized my notes. You said yourself Harper looks just like Nicole. She has another Peacemaker. And look her in the eye and tell me you don’t see an Earp.”

Wynonna looked between her sister, whose face was as serious as it had ever been, and Nicole, who was gently tending to Harper. Sighing, she grabbed her keys. Nicole helped Harper up, guiding her to the door, and Waverly snatched the keys from Wynonna, rushing out the door after them.

* * *

Purgatory General’s emergency room was packed as usual, one of the hazards of living in the Ghost River Triangle. Waverly hurried up to the desk while Nicole helped Harper stand. Harper had gotten groggier on the ride over and now people in the waiting area stared at them as Harper babbled about demons and time traveling. Nurses appeared to take Harper off, instructing “her sister” to wait there.

“While we wait,” Waverly said walking over to a secluded section of the waiting room and shakily sitting down. “Can you please explain what is going on.”

“I don’t have all the details,” Nicole said as she sat next to Waverly. “But I guess we failed to break the curse and all hell had broken loose so I, well future me, sent her back here to try again.”

“You sent her back? Just you?” Waverly asked and Nicole nodded. “How long have you known?”

“Since you were in Utah,” Nicole said. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. She begged me not to. She thought you’d be mad.”

Waverly nodded her head slowly, looking down the hall where they had taken Harper. She was mad. She was so mad and she felt so stupid about it. This Nicole, the one sitting next to her, hadn’t done anything. That was a different Nicole, a later one who had apparently made this huge decision alone. But Waverly could only be mad at this Nicole. She stared intently down the hall, not able to look at Nicole. 

“You are mad,” Nicole said, glancing over at Waverly.

“Of course I’m mad!” Waverly said. She looked over at Nicole with the same look she had when Nicole had hidden her DNA test results. “You sent our daughter on a one way trip to the past!”

“One way?” Nicole’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“She is changing her past,” Waverly hissed. “That means the future changes and when the future changes, there is nowhere for her to go back to!”

Nicole slumped down in her seat. She hadn’t put that much thought into it, but she had assumed the work they did would end with Harper going home. They sat in silence waiting until a doctor appeared asking for Harper’s family.

“I’m her, uh, sister,” Nicole said, standing up.

“Right, well, your sister is going to be fine,” the doctor said, looking down at his clipboard. “She needed a few stitches on the back of her head, but no signs of concussion. We did find several different drugs in her system, however, so here are some pamphlets on addiction and treatment.”

Waverly and Nicole exchanged confused glances, but Nicole reached out and took the pamphlets.

“She’s currently resting, but you can go in and see her if you’d like.”

They were led down the hall to a small room where Harper lay asleep on the bed. Waverly sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at Harper, running her hand gently through her hair.

“It’s so strange,” Waverly said. “The moment you said she was our daughter, it’s like a fog lifted and I knew you were right. This is kinda crazy and amazeballs all at the same time.”

“What are we going to do now?” Nicole asked. 

“You’re going to go tell Jeremy about the drugs in her system so he can narrow down what the hell that cloud thing was,” Waverly said. “He’s at the high school. I’ll wait here.”

“I could just call him,” Nicole said, pulling out her phone.

“Oh, no,” Waverly said. “I’m still mad. I know it’s kinda dumb, but I need some time to not be mad about the fact you, other you, whoever, sent her back in time where she had to lie to everyone and has been alone doing things that are undoubtedly dangerous all while her family has been staring right through her for like a month. So you should go now.”

Nicole thought for a moment, then tilted her head and nodded her agreement. After she left to go find Jeremy, Waverly pulled over a chair next to the bed and watched Harper sleep. She had a million questions racing through her mind. She wanted to know all about how Harper got here, what this had to do with the Earp Posse, what her plan was and on and on. In the back of her mind, she also wanted to know everything about Harper’s life. She wasn’t sure if she should ask, though she reasoned the future would be different this time around, because she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear about a future where the curse was never broken and Nicole hid such a major thing from her.

Harper stirred, slowly opening her eyes and looking around. She looked confused, then her eyes fell on Waverly and fear lit up her face.

“I’m not a cultist, I swear,” Harper said, clearly unaware of the last hour or so.

“I know,” Waverly said, smiling at her. “Nicole told us the truth. I have so many questions, but-”

“The spell was from some Iron Witch who said she owed mom a favor, but she really wasn’t keen on changing the past, I don’t know what the story there is,” Harper said.

“Wait!” Waverly said, laughing. “I wanted to know why you didn’t tell us the truth earlier?”

“Partially because it would sound crazy,” Harper said. “Partially cause Aunt Wynonna tends to shoot first. And partially because mom thought you’d be mad. Like really mad.”

Waverly’s face fell. “Well, I don’t know what I’m like where you come from, but here, I’m not mad. Really. I’m freaking out a little cause I’m not sure I’m ready to be the mom of a twenty-five year old.”

Harper laughed and her big dimpled smile came out. Then she winced and put her head in her hands. 

“Why do I feel like I just spent the night drinking with Alice?” Harper moaned.

“Oh, now I have so many more questions,” Waverly said. “But that feeling is actually from a smoke demon in the high school. Jeremy and Nicole are there now figuring out what it was and making sure Wynonna killed it. You know Jeremy?”

“Yeah,” Harper said. “He made sure I could tell the difference between a Viper and an X-Wing.”

“That’s important,” Waverly said. She smiled as she remembered when Jeremy had given Wynonna a lecture on the difference between _Star Wars_ and _Battlestar Galactica_ after she misidentified his t-shirt. It had taken an hour and as much as Wynonna had sent pleading eyes at Waverly, she had ignored them and enjoyed watching her sister suffer. “As soon as you are discharged, we are going to go to your apartment, get your stuff and move you into the Homestead.”

“Shouldn’t you ask Aunt Wynonna first?” Harper asked.

“Nope,” Waverly said. She stood up and patted Harper’s leg. “You are an Earp, it’s your home. Now sit tight, I’m going to find a doctor and get you out of here.”

Waverly walked off, feeling excited and nervous and giddy and about a million other things. There was still the cult and Bulshar and the curse, but for now, she was excited to be bringing her daughter home.


	4. Chapter 4

“So it sounds like we’re all in agreement,” Wynonna said. “That Smokey the Revenant was the surgeon?” Her feet were up on the table in the center of the Black Badge office and she leaned back in her chair, leaving only two legs on the floor. 

“No,” Waverly said, standing by her board which had doubled in size in two days. “I’m saying he’s the most likely candidate at this moment.”

“But he’s got a direct connection of Texas Jack,” Harper said. She sat cross legged on the table, a file on Texas Jack sitting open on her lap. “And he has a connection to the drugs that made me feel like I was reliving Christmas ‘41.”

Wynonna dropped her feet to the floor and snapped the chair back onto all four legs.

“What happened Christmas ‘41?” Wynonna asked, looking up at Harper. She rested her elbows on the table and waited expectantly. Harper glanced between her eager aunt and Waverly who was sharply shaking her head no.

“I’m gonna pass on that,” Harper said. 

“I’m still stuck on the smoke cloud,” Waverly said. Harper hopped off the table and walked over to the board, well, boards. It had grown so much with Harper’s input that it had spilled onto a second board that they’d stolen from the station’s briefing room. Harper leaned in close to an old photo of a doctor in a business suit standing in front of a bookshelf. He had been executed by Wyatt Earp after using drugs from his practice to murder his whole family.

“He’s smoking a cigar in the picture,” Harper said, pulling the picture off the board and handing it to Waverly. “That’s smoke cloud adjacent.”

“Yes!” Wynonna said. She stood up and stretched. “Mystery solved, let’s go get a drink to celebrate.”

“Sit down,” Waverly said, pointing at Wynonna. “We have some other suspects and since there was no soul sucky hellmouth, we’re gonna run into it again. Though I do appreciate the effort, Harper.”

“Teacher’s pet,” Wynonna said as she stuck her tongue out at Harper.

“When you were valedictorian in high school and college,” Harper said. “And you have a PhD by the time you’re 25, that’s not really an insult.”

“You have a PhD?” Waverly asked excited and impressed.

“I finished a few months before I came here,” Harper said. “It was a comparative study between ancient myth and more modern Wild West fiction. Oh, I have a picture from the party you threw. Want to see it?”

Harper fished around in her pockets then produced a fairly new looking photograph with a crease down the center. An older Waverly and Nicole stood on either side of Harper in front of the Homestead with a big hand painted banner that read “Congrats Harper!” with a hastily scrawled “Haught damn you did it!” underneath. Behind them, on the porch of the Homestead, were older versions of Wynonna, Doc, Dolls and then a young woman Waverly didn’t know, but recognized.

“Is that?” Waverly asked, pointing at the woman. 

“Alice.” Harper nodded. Wynonna snatched the picture out of Waverly’s hand and looked down at her daughter. The young woman looked bored, arms crossed tightly across her chest as she leaned on one of the porch posts. She stared impassively down at the three excited Haught-Earps as if she didn’t care enough to join in the celebration, but cared enough not to ruin it.

“She looks like me,” Wynonna said softly. 

“Earp, we got a problem,” Dolls said as he stepped out of his office. “The hardware store reported a mysterious black smoke with no source. We need to go check it out, now.”

“On it, boss,” Wynonna said. She drug her sleeve across her across, handed the picture back to Harper then following Dolls out of the office.

“Did you and Alice get along?” Waverly asked, clearly afraid of the answer.

“Oh yeah,” Harper deadpanned. “Like a forest fire and a glass of water.”

“Was she really that bad?” Waverly asked. Harper sighed.

“She just had a hell of a time adjusting to Purgatory, to being an Earp,” Harper said. “The way Wynonna and Alice go at it, makes it seem being a Haught-Earp's a lot easier than being a regular ol' Earp. But that doesn’t matter anymore, I’m here to fix all that.”

Waverly pulled Harper into a big hug. It was a pretty regular occurrence now. Waverly hugged Harper so often and so fiercely that people had begun to ask if Harper was dying. Harper didn’t mind, though. She was glad to be back with her family. Even if she was now older than half of them.

“We should get back to this,” Harper said, pulling away from Waverly and pointing at the board. “Who else did you have in mind?”

They turned back to their board and Waverly set about laying out all the suspects and evidence. Waverly had done such a thorough job cataloging any possible revenants that it would likely take the rest of the day to sort through. Fortunately, Dolls had officially transferred Harper to Black Badge. Harper was a little sad she didn’t get to spend all day with Nicole anymore, but was extremely glad she didn’t have to fake her way through police work. Tucking the picture of her family back into her pocket, Harper got to work.

* * *

_Harper jolted awake when she felt a hand clamp down against her mouth. She thrashed against the weight pressing on her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her room._

_“Relax, it’s just me,” A voice hissed at her._

_Harper could make out the shape of Alice leaning over her, the sharp tang of whisky on her breath._

_“What are you doing, what time is it?” Harper mumbled, still trying to get her bearings._

_“Late. Or early.” Alice shrugged. “Depending on your life choices.”_

_Alice perched herself on the end of Harper’s bed, giving her an expectant look. Harper knew that look, Alice was planning on doing something dumb and wanted an audience. Harper rolled out of bed, digging through a pile of clothes on the floor. This was the way with them, Alice blazing through her life like a comet threatening to burn out completely at any moment, while Harper followed behind, hoping futility she could stop a force of nature._

_“Where have you been?” Harper asked as she pulled a long sleeved t-shirt from the pile. She sniffed it before tugging it down over her head. Alice had disappeared for a few days which, those days, was normal._

_Alice eyed the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department logo that now adorned Harper’s chest. “Had some business to take care of in the big city.”_

_Harper knew there wasn’t a point to press her any further, so elected to follow Alice silently down the steps. Her aunt was passed out on the couch, one boot halfway pried off her foot._

_Alice stooped to pick up the whisky bottle abandoned on the floor. She tipped it to her lips, discovering it was all but empty._

_“Pathetic,” Alice said, dropping the bottle and looking down at her mother. “Couldn’t even leave me any.”_

_Alice left the house, Harper quietly trailing behind, doing her best not to wake her mothers. Alice ducked into the barn, producing a six pack from nowhere. She ripped a beer from the plastic rings and tossed it to Harper, taking one for herself and immediately draining it. She placed the empty can on the split rail fence that lined the field behind the barn, then scanned the ground for abandoned bottles and cans._

_Harper cracked her beer open, but didn’t bother pretending to drink._

_“So, why did you drag me out here?” Harper asked, pulling her shoulders in. Fall was coming in more quickly than she expected. Though the days were still warm, the evenings were cold enough that she wished she had put something heavier on._

_“We’re goin’ shootin’, Tex,” Alice drawled in an exaggerated accent. She pulled a gun from her belt and waved it toward Harper._

_“Holy fuck, is that your mom’s gun?”_

_Alice just smirked, twirling Peacemaker on her finger. She shotgunned another beer, taking aim and firing._

_The gun clicked pathetically. Alice frowned, checking to make sure it was loaded, before spinning the chamber back into place. She took another shot. This time the gun fired, but she missed her mark by a country mile._

_“Nicely done, Annie Oakley,” Harper said._

_“Fuck off.” Alice let off two more rounds that went off in opposite directions. One ricocheted off an old rusted out tractor that nearly ended with a bullet in Alice’s foot._

_Harper chuckled._

_“Well, if you think it’s so easy, why don’t you try,” Alice said, shoving Peacemaker into Harper’s hand. She set her beer down on the ground and stepped up next to Alice._

_Harper lifted the gun, she mostly shot with her mother’s rifle, so it took a second to adjust to the weight of the pistol. She fired two quick shots, one shattering the glass bottle, the other sending the tin can flying into the air._

_“This is such bullshit,” Alice shouted, snatching Peacemaker from Harper and jamming it back into her belt. “You’re not even a real fucking Earp.”_

_She turned away sharply, about to stalk off._

_“You know what, Alice. Fuck you!” Harper shouted. “I’m more of an Earp than you will ever be.”_

_Alice froze. Harper thought her uncharacteristic outburst caught Alice off guard enough that maybe Harper would get the last word for once with her cousin. It was a short lived fantasy when Alice whirled around, punching Harper in the face. She hit the ground like a ton of bricks, stars sparking across her vision when the back of her head cracked against the hard packed dirt._

_Harper laid flat on her back, listening to the sounds of Alice’s footsteps fading away. A shooting star skimmed across the night sky and Harper wondered which would burn out first._

* * *

The hardware store was empty and the contents of the shelves had been thrown everywhere. Wynonna picked her way over a pile of wrenches to reach the back of the store. Dolls walked down another aisle on the far side of the store. They met up at the door to the back office. Dolls put his hand on the doorknob and looked at Wynonna who nodded. He threw open the door and Wynonna stepped in, Peacemaker raised and ready to fire. 

The room was empty. Wynonna groaned and threw her head back in frustration.

“Where did it come from?” Wynonna asked no one in particular. She wandered around the small office looking for any sign of where the smoke cloud could have come in.

“More importantly right now,” Dolls said walking back into the main store area. “Is where did it go? Do we have any idea who it is?”

“Waverly is looking into it with,” Wynonna snort-laughed. “Did you know her name is Agnes?”

“Yeah,” Dolls said. He sifted through the piles looking for anything the revenant may have left behind.

“Agnes,” Wynonna chuckled to herself. “I am way better at naming kids than Waverly.”

Screaming erupted from the street and Wynonna shot out the door. A huge black cloud filled the street as people fled in every direction. Wynonna pulled the second Peacemaker from her belt, raised them both and opened fire. The shots hit the cloud, passed straight through and hit the cars behind.

“Shit,” Wynonna said. She stopped firing, afraid of hitting any bystanders. The cloud swelled up for a second, then disappeared down a drain.

“Earp!” Dolls yelled, running out and heading straight for the drain. “Why didn’t you shoot it?”

“I tried,” Wynonna shouted back. “It’s a little hard to hit a cloud between the eyes!”

Dolls ran to his car and threw open the back hatch. He rooted around for a minute, then ran back into the street with a crowbar. Lifting the manhole cover, Dolls motioned for Wynonna to go down. She grunted angrily, then climbed down. 

Just as Wynonna expected, the sewer was dark and gross. She found herself standing in several inches of murky water that she didn’t want to think too hard about. Dolls splashed down next to her, gun and flashlight raised, scanning the area.

“How are we supposed to find this thing down here?” Wynonna asked. She checked both directions and decided she was not going any further. “It’s not right here and I am not stomping through whatever this is on the off chance of finding it.”

Dolls wanted to protest, but seeing the look on Wynonna’s face, acquiesced. They went back up on the street to find the people of Purgatory had resumed their afternoon activities. Wynonna shook her head, amazed at what the citizens of a demon infested town were willing to ignore.

* * *

Harper and Waverly sat next to each other in the Black Badge office eating take out and pouring over Waverly’s files. So far, they’d selected two more suspects and ruled out another twenty-five. Jeremy came in, returning from another field trip to the high school basement.

“Hey, Jeremy,” Waverly and Harper said in unison.

“Hey, Waverly,” Jeremy said, then realizing there were two voices, he stopped and looked over at the table. “Oh, Harper, isn’t it, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. Though I guess you already know me, so we don’t need to be introduced. Is that how this works? I’ve studied some time travel theories, but never the etiquette.”

“I think we can make up whatever etiquette we want,” Harper said, shrugging.

“What’s it like knowing everyone but not having anyone know you?” Jeremy asked, pulling out the chair opposite them and taking a seat.

“It wasn’t great,” Harper admitted. “It was like, reverse amnesia.”

“I have so many time travel questions,” Jeremy said. He set his files directly on top of Waverly’s neatly organized piles. She let out a squeal as she jumped up and scooped her piles away from him. Jeremy ignored her, keeping his attention on Harper. “Most pressing, what happens in the next _Star Wars_?”

Harper opened her mouth to speak, but Jeremy cut her off.

“Wait!” He said. “I don’t want to know. Actually, you are a walking spoiler. I need to go.”

Jeremy got up and darted into the small office in the back of the room. Harper watched him go, brow furrowed in confusion.

“Is not going to speak to me for the next thirty-ish years?” Harper asked, pointing her thumb over towards where he disappeared.

“Quite possibly,” Waverly said, still fixing her piles.

There was a soft knock on the door before Nicole poked her head in.

“There are my favorite girls,” she said walking into the room. Waverly smiled and gave Harper another quick hug. Things had been a bit tense between Waverly and Nicole for the first day after the big secret reveal, but things had gotten dramatically better when the three of them started spending time together. “I hate to interrupt your study party, but we have gotten several reports of one Wynonna Earp firing wildly down the street at clouds. I thought you should know.”

“Dolls is with her, she’ll be fine,” Waverly said, getting up and walking over to Nicole. She took her by the hand and pulled her out into the hall. “We should go out to dinner tonight.”

“Just the two of us?” Nicole asked, her dimples appearing.

“Just the two of us,” Waverly said. “I can get us reservations at that new fancy place a few towns over. You can wear that suit I keep hearing about but haven’t seen. We can go back to your place.”

“Please shut the door,” Harper yelled.

Nicole leaned forward and kissed Waverly while reaching around her and pulling the Black Badge office shut.

* * *

After a long fruitless day searching for a cloud, Wynonna finally made it back to the Homestead. Waverly’s jeep was gone, probably off with Nicole, and Wynonna was glad she would have the place to herself for a while. A quiet evening with a bottle of whisky and a bathtub sounded perfect to her.

Wynonna walked in the front door and ripped off her shirt, tossing it on the couch as she headed to her room. She began undoing her belt when a loud crash came from the kitchen. Wynonna grabbed Peacemaker and slowly made her way into the kitchen. Rounding the corner, Wynonna found Harper picking up food and papers off the floor.

“Shit, I forgot about you,” Wynonna said, lowering Peacemaker. Harper glanced over at her, but kept picking up the mess. “Shit, that wasn’t what I meant. I meant I forgot you lived here now.”

“You’re not wearing a shirt,” Harper said. She dropped her stack of papers on the table and sat down. Wynonna looked down then ducked out of the room to retrieve her shirt off the back of the couch. She came back to the kitchen where Harper had begun sorting the papers into neat piles. Picking up the closest page, Wynonna saw that Harper was still researching the cloud revenant. 

“Looks like you have a wild night planned,” Wynonna said, dropping the page back on the table. Harper grabbed it and put it back where it came from. “Do you have a problem with me or something?”

“No,” Harper said, shaking her head. She pulled on stack of papers closer and wrote in her notebook.

“Want to get take out?” Wynonna asked, pulling out a chair and taking a seat.

“Sure,” Harper nodded.

“Can I get more than a one word answer?” 

Harper’s face fell and she looked up from her notes. “Sorry. I don’t think I’ve been alone in a room with you since I was, like, thirteen.”

“Really?” Wynonna asked. She leaned back and grabbed a the menus from the only two places that would come out to the Homestead. “Why?”

“That’s when Alice moved in.”

Wynonna stopped and looked at Harper, trying to read her face but Harper kept her face neutral. “If the curse wasn’t broken, why did she come back?”

“Because if you couldn’t break it, she would have to,” Harper said, being sure to keep her voice and expression even. “You needed to train her to be the heir so she’d be ready.”

Setting the menus down in front of Harper, Wynonna tried to remain causal, but knew they’d be revisiting that topic later. 

“Pizza or chinese?” Wynonna said. Harper tapped the pizza menu and Wynonna nodded, putting the other menu back. “Any preferences?”

“As much cheese, meat and gluten as possible,” Harper said returning to her notes. Wynonna laughed. Apparently her niece had not inherited her sister’s eating habits. 

“My kind of girl,” Wynonna said. 

She pulled out her phone and ordered them a large meat lovers pizza with extra cheese. While they waited, Wynonna took a shower, leaving Harper to do her work. Once the food arrived, Harper cleared off the table so they could eat together. At first, they chatted about the current revenant problem and how they were going to shoot a cloud. When Wynonna felt she had Harper talking more openly, she changed the subject.

“How was Alice?”

Harper froze, cheese hanging from her mouth. She swallowed hard, trying to think of how to answer that landmine of a question. 

“I don’t want to lie,” Harper said, wiping excess cheese and sauce off her face. “But I don’t want to hurt you either.”

“Just tell me,” Wynonna said. “The universe delights in fucking me over, so I’m pretty damn sure this is no different.”

“I’m here to change all that, so what does it matter anyway?” Harper got up and tossed her plate in the sink.

“Waverly and Nicole get to know you,” Wynonna said, standing up so Harper couldn’t leave the kitchen. “Tell me.”

“She’s a lot like you,” Harper said, crossing her arms and taking a step back from Wynonna. “Only without all those warm and fuzzy feelings for family members.”

“Well I wasn’t always the biggest fan of the Earps,” Wynonna said, shrugging. “Or the extended family. Or anyone in Purgatory.”

“But you never gave Waverly a black eye,” Harper mumbled. She shifted on her feet and looked past Wynonna to the door.

“She hit you?” Wynonna asked, her face screwed up in heartbreak.

“Only once and it was partially my fault,” Harper said, wanting to fix it, wanting Wynonna to stop making that face at her. “She said I wasn’t a real Earp and I told her I was more an Earp than she’d ever be, then she punched me. I have a lot of work I need to do.”

Harper scooped her research into her arms and fled the kitchen leaving Wynonna standing and staring blankly into the distance. Wynonna stood in the kitchen without moving for several minutes. She’d sent Alice away to give a better life. But she had failed.

* * *

_Harper stared at the ceiling of her room, tracing the cracks in the plaster with her eyes. She could hear the quiet voices of her moms echoing from the living room downstairs. She knew they thought she was asleep, their voices were low so as not to wake their daughter, but their conversation was tense._

_“That was Wynonna,” Her mama said. “Thinks they'll be home in an hour or so.”_

_“Should've been home hours ago,” Her mom replied._

_“Had more trouble than she expected."_

_Harper heard her mom scoff._

_“What was that for?” Her mama asked._

_“C'mon, Waves. They’re tearing that fifteen year old girl away from the only home she’s ever known. Of course she’s puttin’ up a fight.”_

_“You think we’re making a mistake.” Waverly’s voice had a sharpness to it and Harper knew she was verging on anger._

_“That’s not what I said. Baby, you know I’m ride or die for you no matter what, but I think this is gonna be harder than any of us expects.”_

_Their voices faded away after that, as they moved to another part of the house. Harper knew what they were discussing. Her Aunt Wynonna had gone to bring back her cousin Alice. Harper had never met Alice, but she knew about her. Alice had gotten sent away when she was a baby because she was the Earp heir. That meant she was the one who was going to be responsible for breaking the Earp curse if her aunt couldn’t. Harper had been excited to learn her cousin was coming to live with them. Harper was an only child and she didn’t have that many friends at school. It was hard when Harper’s favorite pastime was helping her mama research demons which wasn’t exactly something she could explain to her classmates. So she was looking forward to having someone she could talk to and confide in._

_Harper shifted, trying to find a comfortable position on the pallet of blankets her mom had laid out on the floor for her. Harper had been the one to suggest Alice take her bed until they could set up something more permanent. She wanted to do her part to make Alice feel welcome at the Homestead._

_Harper must’ve drifted off at some point because the next thing she heard was the front door slamming. There was some conversation that Harper couldn’t make out and then footsteps on the stairs. Her door swung open and she could see her cousin standing in the threshold. Alice had long dark hair like her mother’s and from the light streaming in from the hallway, Harper could see her eyes looked red and swollen. Alice crossed the room and collapsed face first onto the bed, shoes and all._

_“Hi Alice,” Harper whispered from her place on the floor. “I’m your cousin Harper. I’m really glad you’re here and that we’re all gonna be a family again.”_

_Alice pulled her knees up to her chest, Harper could hear her sniffle away a few tears._

_“I don’t know what you were told,” Alice whispered back, “But I ain’t your family. I ain’t no goddamned Earp. Y’all can go to hell, for all I care.”_

_Harper felt like she got socked in the gut. This was certainly not the reaction she was expecting. She rolled over, deciding that trying to talk to Alice tonight wasn’t worth it. Maybe she’d feel a little better in the morning. Harper closed her eyes, falling asleep to the sound of Alice’s soft sobs._

* * *

Waverly was awakened by the sound of her phone hitting the floor. She moved Nicole’s arm from her waist so she could reach over the edge of the bed for her phone. Her fingers brushed the side of the phone, but it vibrated away from her under the bed. Nicole mumbled in her sleep and threw her arm back over Waverly, preventing her from making another grab for it.

As Waverly tried to wiggle free of her girlfriend’s firm grasp, Nicole’s phone loudly started blaring “Hot Stuff” jolting her awake. She released Waverly’s waist, dropping Waverly on the floor as she went for her phone.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Nicole said, ignoring the ringing and reaching out for Waverly over the edge of the bed. Waverly grabbed her phone from under the bed then sat down next to Nicole. “Who is calling so early?”

“It was Wynonna,” Waverly said as she scrolled through her missed calls. There was one from Harper and three from Wynonna. “Hot Stuff” started playing again, so Nicole rolled over and answered the call.

“Wynonna, did you change my ringtone again?” Nicole said before Wynonna could say anything.

“First of all, I refuse to be a default ringtone,” Wynonna said. “Secondly, Harper and I are trapped in the high school basement by a murder cloud and no one is answering their fucking phone!”

“Shit, we are on our way,” Nicole said. She hung up and turned to Waverly. “Wynonna and Harper are pinned down in the high school.”

Waverly jumped out of bed and got dressed. Within minutes, they were on the road in Nicole’s police car speeding toward the high school. As they pulled into the parking lot, Wynonna and Harper came sprinting out of the building. A moment later, the cloud came surging out behind them.

“Get down!” Nicole yelled. Wynonna and Harper hit the ground as Nicole opened fire. The cloud stopped and retreated into the high school. 

“Shooting it doesn’t work!” Wynonna snapped from the ground. She pushed herself back up to her feet, then reached down to help Harper up.

“What else was I supposed to do?” Nicole said, shoving her gun back into her belt. 

“Not shoot at it?” Wynonna said. Nicole and Harper gave her the exact same glare.

“Ok, what are you doing here?” Waverly said, checking over Wynonna and Harper to make sure they were alright.

“I think I figured out who it is,” Harper said. She dug around in oversized coat searching all the pockets then pulled out a neatly folded page from Waverly’s research. “Zeke Macalister. He was a big fan of laudanum and nitrous oxide, which fits the drugs and the whole cloud thing. He was also a member of Texas Jack’s church, which was first built on the site of the hardware store then later moved here.”

“Nice work,” Waverly said, giving Harper a high five. “But why were you here?”

“Nicole and I were digging where Jack should have been,” Harper said, pulling out a second piece of paper with a map of old Purgatory sketched on top of new Purgatory. “He wanted to be buried under the first pews, which everyone of us thought meant the first row of pews. But then I went back to his letters and realized he was talking about the first pews he built which would be at the old church.”

“So why are you at the high school?” Nicole said, not really following.

“Oh, because we were actually digging up Zeke,” Harper said. She patted down her jacket until she found what she was looking for, a small glass bottle. “So I thought we could look for something that might be useful in his grave and we found this.”

“That was a really long way of saying ‘we snagged something for Jeremy so he can figure out how to shoot a damn cloud’,” Wynonna said, snatching the bottle from Harper. “Then old laughing gas himself showed up and now we’re here. Next we’re going to take this to Jeremy so I can send this asshole back to hell.”

“I never thought grave robbing would be such an important part of my life,” Nicole said.

“Really?” Harper said surprised. “You were always so good at it when I was growing up.”

“You’re riding with me back to the station,” Wynonna said to Harper. “Because I have so many follow up questions.”

* * *

Waverly bounced up and down trying to reach the top of her research board. Jeremy had taken the bottle back to his office to run it through analysis, taking Dolls with him to assist and leaving the rest of them to get back to work on the Vendetta Posse. The second board was full, so Waverly was trying to expand upward. Wynonna and Harper sat back, watching the shortest person in the room try and pin a map to the top of the board.

“In the future,” Wynonna asked, watching her sister continue to bounce. “Does she ever actually ask for help reaching things?”

“Nope,” Harper said.

“And how long have you been taller than her?” Wynonna asked before taking a slow drink of her coffee.

“Since I was twelve,” Harper said.

“Twelve?!” Waverly said, spinning around to look at them. “I’m not that short. And you’re not that tall.”

Harper stood up, took the map from Waverly and easily tacked it to the top of the board. “I’m taller than mom. That’s pretty damn tall.”

Waverly harrumphed and turned back to her board. Harper stood next to her, then rested an arm on top of her head. Wynonna burst out laughing and though Waverly tried very hard to keep an angry face, she eventually broke and started giggling.

Jeremy and Dolls emerged from the back room, Jeremy holding a tablet and typing ferociously on it. Everyone waited for him to share his findings, but he kept typing and muttering to himself.

“Something you want to share with the class,” Dolls said, nudging Jeremy with his elbow. Jeremy looked up to find everyone watching him expectantly.

“Oh, right,” Jeremy said. “After much analysis, I decided the best way to revert the cloud into a solid form for Wynonna to shoot is to make it cold.”

“That’s it?”

“Seriously?”

“It took you that long to come up with that?”

“Hey, no one else came up with it,” Jeremy said. He spun his tablet around for everyone else to see. “As you can see, I am working on designing a high-powered aerosol weapon to disperse a cooling agent at the cloud.”

“You’re making a freeze ray?” Wynonna asked.

“Well, I mean,” Jeremy stammered. “I guess you could call it that, but it’s more complicated, but yeah, it’s a freeze ray.”

“I don’t mean to step on your toes,” Harper said. “But the high school has a walk-in freezer. I mean, those exist by now, right?”

“Yes,” everyone said incredulously.

“You’re not in the stone age,” Jeremy said. Harper took the tablet from him, examining it.

“I’m pretty sure I am,” she said, giving it back. He snatched it away from her. “I think we can just lure the guy into the freezer, slam the door, wait for him to solidify-”

“Then he gets the one two Peacemaker special,” Wynonna said, making hand pistols.

“How about we work on the freezer plan,” Dolls said. “While Jeremy works on the aerosol w-”

“Freeze ray,” Wynonna said.

“Freeze ray as a backup plan,” Dolls said. “In case that thing gets out of the high school.”

“I like it,” Wynonna said. They set to work coming up with a plan while Jeremy disappeared into his lab to work on the freeze ray.

* * *

“How’s the freeze ray coming along?” Wynonna asked Jeremy, leaning on the door to his office. As if on cue, a small fire broke out on his desk. “That well, good to know.”

Jeremy quickly put out the fire without blinking. “I just need a little more time.”

“Well, they just cancelled football practice because of a black smoke filling the locker room,” Wynonna said. “So we’re gonna go.”

“Wait, no,” Jeremy said, working faster. “I can have it done.”

“Uh huh,” Wynonna said. “But we have to go now.”

Wynonna turned back to the main office, ignoring Jeremy’s frantic assurances that he’d be done soon. Harper and Dolls were waiting for Wynonna, but Waverly had disappeared. Wynonna was about to ask where she went when Waverly reappeared with Nicole in tow.

“Waves,” Wynonna said, adjusting her new dual pistol belt holster. “Haught was not a part of this plan.”

“I’m going to wait here with Jeremy,” Nicole said, trying not to be offended at Wynonna’s brush off. “As soon as he’s done, we’ll be on our way to you.”

“Alright,” Wynonna said, heading for the door. She stopped to pat Nicole roughly on the shoulder. “Sounds good to me.”

Wynonna, Waverly, Harper and Dolls set off to the high school. They did a quick rundown of the plan on the way. Wynonna and Dolls would go investigate the locker rooms and find the revenant. They would then drive him to the kitchen where Harper and Waverly would be waiting to lock him in the freezer. It was a simple plan that they were all aware could go awry in a million ways. 

“Can I have one of the Peacemakers?” Harper asked from the backseat of Dolls’ SUV.

“No,” Wynonna said. She checked her belt again, ensuring both guns were in a good position. “You can’t even use it.”

“I have before,” Harper said, pouting at the back of Wynonna’s head. “That Arcainae would have eaten your face if it wasn’t for me.”

“That was you!” Waverly said, suddenly realizing what happened that night. “Of course, that makes so much sense.”

“Ok, sure, you used it then,” Wynonna said. “But it didn’t work against this very revenant, so no, you can’t have one.”

Harper leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest. She mumbled under her breath, “I don’t see why I can’t have my gun. I brought it here.”

They pulled up to the high school for the second time that day. The parking lot was empty, except a few squad cars that had been sent to get everyone out of the area. Heading into the school, they split up, going to their assigned posts. Waverly and Harper made it to the freezer without seeing anyone and quickly dropped the temperature as low as it would go. 

Wynonna and Dolls were on their way to the locker rooms when they heard screaming coming from the gym. Speeding up, they heard the screams grow louder followed by the sound of the doors flinging open and slamming into the walls. Wynonna rounded the corner first to find several teens running towards her shrieking at the top of their lungs. She kept running forward, but skidding to a stop when the cloud came bursting out of the gym. Quickly backpedaling and bolting back around the corner, she yelled for Dolls to run.

“Nope, left!” Wynonna yelled at Dolls as he starting turning the wrong way at an intersection. He turned down to the left while Wynonna kept running forward toward the kitchen. The cloud followed Wynonna, gaining on her even as she sped up. “Shouldn’t have eaten that fourth donut!”

The cloud was on her heels as she flung herself through the kitchen doors. Harper and Waverly threw open the doors to the freezer as Wynonna hit the floor. The revenant went flying into the freezer. Dolls came in behind them and opened fire, forcing the cloud back. He counted to three and stopped firing for Waverly and Harper to shut the doors. The cloud reached out with an arm like appendage to stop the door from closing all the way. Wynonna shot up at the cloud’s arm, but the bullet ricocheted, hitting a gas line.

A small explosion knocked Waverly and Dolls back into some metal racks, sending metal bowls and utensils crashing down around them. Wynonna jumped to her feet and threw her shoulder into the door. She looked over and saw Harper standing there, frozen and staring past Wynonna. 

“Harper!” Wynonna yelled. Harper ignored her, still staring at the far side of the kitchen. “Harper! Get the door! Damn it!”

Wynonna tried to hold both doors, but the revenant was too strong. It forced its way back out of the freezer then shot out of the kitchen.

“Son of a bitch,” Wynonna yelled, leaning back against the door of the freezer. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Harper didn’t move or respond.

“Wynonna,” Waverly said, fighting her way out from under the pile of utensils. “The kitchen is on fire.”

Wynonna turned and saw a fire was spreading along the counter. She grabbed the fire extinguisher from under the counter while Waverly grabbed Harper’s hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. Once the fire was out, Wynonna joined them out in the hall. Harper was doubled over hyperventilating with Waverly rubbing her back.

“What the hell was that?” Wynonna said. “We had it and you let it escape.”

“I’m sorry,” Harper wheezed. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, then straightened up. “I kind of have a problem with fire.”

“Are you OK?” Waverly asked, placing a hand on Harper’s cheek. Harper nodded, but kept taking deep breaths.

“Great, you raised a crybaby who let our best chance slip away,” Wynonna said, looking around to see if she could see where it went. “No way we’re pulling that off again. Better hope that damn freeze ray works.”

“Oh fuck you,” Harper snapped taking a step toward Wynonna. “This whole thing is your damn fault. You see this?” 

Harper turned and tugged on the neck of her shirt showing off the top of a burn scar on her back. It was a thick, gnarled scar left from a serious burn.

“This is because you and your daughter couldn’t stop arguing for five fucking minutes,” Harper said. “I thought Alice was a bitch cause her life sucked, but now I think it’s hereditary. I don’t even know why I bothered to do any of this.”

Harper turned and stormed out of the building. Wynonna stood stunned, unsure what to do or even what to think. The burn looked bad and even though it was some other Wynonna in some time line that didn’t exist any more, she felt like shit.

“Good one,” Waverly said, glaring at Wynonna. 

Waverly followed after Harper leaving Wynonna standing alone in the hall.

* * *

_Harper laughed as her mom sang along off key to a Christmas carol that played on the radio. They were well into their all day holiday preparations. Her mama had brought down the old decorations from the barn attic and the three of them had spent the morning trimming the tree and making the Homestead look festive._

_“Get that batch out of the oven,” Her mama instructed, her hands busy with more dough. “Nicole, I think that cookie has enough frosting.”_

_Her mom smiled sheepishly, placing the cookie that was more frosting at that point onto a plate before leaning over to give Waverly a quick kiss on her lips. The smells of baked goods filled the house as Harper pulled the hot cookie sheet out of the oven and set it on the counter. Her mama loved Christmas and always pulled out all the stops for the holiday season. Harper loved it too, but she had a particular interest in this year. It would be their first Christmas with Alice, and Harper wanted it to be special. Alice was still having a hard time settling in Purgatory, it seemed like not a day went by when she wasn’t in some sort of fight. Harper hoped the distraction of cookies and presents might help Alice adjust._

_“Ouch!” Harper hissed, pulling her arm away from the hot oven. Her wrist had brushed against the inside of the door as she slid in a new sheet of cookies._

_“Careful,” Her mom said. “You OK?”_

_“Yeah, just a little singed.” Harper traced her finger around the skin that was turning pink. Alice was in pain, that much Harper was sure of, but no one seemed to know how to talk about it. Harper knew, having been raised surrounded by her loving family, she would never be able to understand the situation Alice was in, but it didn’t mean she was going to stop trying to make Alice feel like she belonged with them._

_“Hey, I’m gonna go out to the barn and see if I can find the box with the stockings. I want to make Alice one.”_

_Waverly wiped her hands off on her apron to wrap Harper up in a tight hug. “You’re such a good kid, I love you.”_

_“Family hug!” Nicole called, grabbing them both and lifting them off their feet. Waverly squealed, demanding to be put down while Harper laughed. She set them both back on the ground, placing a big, sloppy kiss on Harper’s temple._

_“Give me a minute and I’ll meet you out there to help you look,” Nicole said, haphazardly slathering more frosting on a few cookies._

_The sound of Alice and Wynonna arguing preceded them into the house. They stomped in, slamming the front door and shouting at each other. Wynonna had started taking Alice with her on some of her easier revenant hunts, even though Alice protested at every turn._

_“This is such bullshit!” Alice yelled, following Wynonna into the living room. “You’re not my mother.”_

_“Sorry to disappoint you, kid,” Wynonna said, “But I’ve got the stretch marks and torn vag to prove it. You’re an Earp through and through and that means all the shit that goes with it.”_

_Harper quickly crossed the room, zipping up the steps to her room, wanting to grab her jacket before heading out to the barn. Alice and Wynonna didn’t even notice her as their fight continued. Alice grabbed a bottle whisky that was sitting on the coffee table. She pitched the bottle at Wynonna who easily sidestepped it. The bottle smashed against the brick hearth of the fireplace, sending a tide of liquor across the floor and the walls. Flames licked at the alcohol hungrily, the fire spreading quickly to the carpet._

_“Fuck!” Wynonna shouted. “Haught! We got a problem.”_

_Nicole walked into the living room, “What are you yelling abo-shit!” She took a step back from the fire that was making its way up the wall and stairs._

_“Waverly, call the fire department!” She called, running into the kitchen while Alice and Wynonna argued over whose fault it was on their way back out through the front door. Waverly followed them outside, a moment of panic gripping her chest when Harper was nowhere in sight. She rushed to the barn, desperately hoping to find Harper there._

_Nicole grabbed the fire extinguisher from underneath the sink, wanting to slow the spread enough until the firefighters arrived. She had only just started suppressing the fire when she heard Waverly screaming her name. It didn’t take more than a second for her to realize why. When she looked up, she spotted a terrified Harper standing at the top of the steps, staring down at the flames._

_Harper heard the commotion from her room, but there had been so many fights between Alice and Wynonna in the past months, she mostly ignored the sound of raised voices._

_“Harper,” Nicole said, trying to keep her voice steady. “C’mon, down the stairs. Quickly. On this side.” She pointed to the railing where the fire hadn’t spread to yet._

_Harper obeyed, but halfway down, some garland ignited sending column of flames up the banister. The heat on her back was overwhelming and knocked her the rest of the way down the steps. Nicole dropped the extinguisher wrapping her own body around Harper’s and dragged her out the front door._

_Waverly met them on the porch, helping her move Harper to safety. Her pained cries pierced the air as Waverly ushered her down into her lap. Harper’s jacket had burned away and Waverly could see blisters forming on her back._

_“It’s gonna be OK, baby,” Nicole said to both of them, kneeling down. “Help is coming.”_

_Waverly brushed some hair from Nicole’s sweaty and soot stained face. Behind them, Alice and Wynonna were still fighting._

_Waverly had enough. She grabbed her shotgun from the trunk of her car, firing to the left of Alice. A chunk of dirt tore up, raining soil back to the ground. Alice nearly leapt out of her boots. Waverly fired again into the air._

_“That’s it. You two are done now,” Waverly said. Alice had never heard her aunt’s voice so cold and hard. “I’ve tolerated your fighting, even thought it was good that you were at least talking to each other. But tonight you put my wife and child in danger.”_

_“Waves.” Wynonna started._

_“No.” She pumped her shotgun. “I swear to the high heavens if you ever do anything like this again, I don’t care if you’re family, I will put you both in shallow graves.”_

_Sirens filled the air and Alice finally looked around. Fire had broken a window in the Homestead and flickered up toward the roof, Harper was stretched out on the ground crying while her moms tried to soothe her, and Alice wondered what the fuck she was doing there._

* * *

Harper opted to walk back to the police station. Waverly had followed her outside, trying to get her to talk about what just happened, but it was easy enough for Harper to shrug her off and out pace her. Harper had never been so furious in her life. She sacrificed everything for this family and instead of thanks, she got blamed. 

It hadn’t even crossed her mind to mention her fear of fire. Her real family knew that and no one had ever made her feel bad about it. Her mom had installed a metal cover over the Homestead’s fireplace and any time a Purgatory town celebration involved a bonfire, her mama had stayed home with her and they had movie nights, watching all those foreign language films no one else in the family wanted to watch.

Harper blinked back tears of rage and frustration as she stormed back into the Black Badge office. _Crybaby_. That’s what Wynonna had called her. Harper furiously wiped any falling tears from her face. She desperately wanted to talk to her moms, her real moms, but they were gone, forever.

When Harper slammed the door to the office, Nicole came out of Jeremy’s office to see what was going on. She became concerned the second her eyes fell on Harper and crossed the room in a few quick strides to give Harper a hug, but Harper stepped out of reach. Harper instantly regretted rebuffing Nicole and reached out to give her an affectionate squeeze on her shoulder.

“Sorry, I need a minute,” Harper said, calming down a little.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Nicole said, watching Harper carefully. 

“I was… Wynonna.” Harper struggled to find the words then gave up, shaking her head in frustration. “Can I stay with you at your place?” 

“Of course,” Nicole said without a single hesitation. “Anything you need.”

“Thanks,” Harper said. 

The biting edge to her anger had subsided, but she was certain she didn’t want to keep living at the Homestead with Wynonna. When Harper was little, her aunt had doted on her, sneaking her donuts from the office well past the time when she was supposed to be eating sweets and taking her to the playground when her moms were busy. When Harper got a little older, Wynonna would give Harper rides on her motorcycle and promised to teach Harper how to drive it when she was old enough. She never did, though. By the time she was old enough to drive, Alice was there.

“The revenant is still out there,” Harper said, grabbing the map she’d pinned to the board earlier. “I need to find it. I’ll be in Dolls’ office if you need me.”

A few minutes later, Waverly came into the office looking for Harper.

“She’s in there,” Nicole said, pointing to Dolls’ door. “But you may want to give her some space.”

“Why? What did she say?” Waverly said. 

“She wants to stay with me,” Nicole said. Waverly looked about to cry so Nicole pulled her into a tight hug, resting her chin on top of Waverly’s head. “She didn’t really explain why. Something about Wynonna.”

Waverly pulled back to look at Nicole. “Apparently Harper is afraid of fire and Wynonna said something dumb. And, oh god, she has such a horrible scar on her back. What happened to her?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said. She glanced over at Dolls’ office, hoping Harper couldn’t hear them. “Right now I think she needs space. We can ask her later.”

Waverly looked like she was having an internal argument, then sighed. “I’m going to go find Wynonna. Let me know if she says anything.”

“I will,” Nicole said. Waverly lifted her chin to kiss Nicole, then pressed their foreheads together. After a long moment, they broke apart and Waverly went to find her sister.

* * *

Wynonna sat at the bar in Shorty’s staring at her empty whisky glass. Doc came up from the basement and eyed Wynonna carefully. Removing his hat, he crossed the bar and leaned on the counter next to her.

“Celebrating another foul revenant sent to hell?” He asked, pouring her another drink. She drank it in one gulp, wincing slightly.

“Nope,” Wynonna said. “Cloudy the Bandit got away. But I did call a burn victim a crybaby for being scared of fire. So I’m still an asshole and I think that’s worth a drink...or seven.”

“You are speaking of the young Miss Haught-Earp, I assume?” Doc said. Wynonna gave him a questioning look. “I noticed she flinches when I light my cigarettes. I’ve taken to stepping away before lighting them.” 

“Maybe you can talk to her,” Wynonna said, talking the whisky bottle and drinking directly out of it. “You two are both from not the present. You can bond.”

“We are both outside our time,” Doc nodded. “But I do believe our experiences are vastly different, so I don’t know how much use I could be. See, my family is long dead while hers is right in front of her.”

“There you are,” Waverly said, stomping into Shorty’s. Doc stood up and grabbed his hat off the counter.

“It think I should take my leave,” Doc said, tipping his hat to Waverly and retreating to the basement. He knew better than to stick around when Waverly was angry.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Waverly asked, sitting down so aggressively that the stool nearly tipped over.

“Oh didn’t you hear?” Wynonna said. “I carry the bitch gene.”

Wynonna tipped the bottle to her lips, but Waverly snatched it away from her, spilling a little on the counter and Wynonna’s hand. She licked the drops of the back of her hand while Waverly glared at her.

“Harper is moving out because of you,” Waverly said. She looked at her sister for some sign of remorse, but only saw the hard mask Wynonna had spent years perfecting.

“Sorry to break up your little family reunion,” Wynonna said. “Can I please have my whisky back?”

“No, we still need to deal with the revenant,” Waverly said. “So you probably shouldn’t be drunk.”

“Too late,” Wynonna said. She stood up and leaned over the bar, fishing around until she found another bottle. “It’s not like it matters, Jeremy will freeze the thing and it’s not hard to hit a frozen revenant at point blank range...with two Peacemakers! I look so much cooler now.”

“Fine, then you shouldn’t be drunk so you can apologize to Harper,” Waverly said, taking the second bottle from Wynonna.

“You can apologize for me,” Wynonna said. She reached across Waverly to take the bottle back, but Waverly kept a tight grip. “I mean, you’re clearly a better mother than I am.”

Waverly’s jaw dropped and she released the bottle. Wynonna poured herself another drink and sank further down in her seat. Before Waverly could formulate a response, her phone began to buzz.

“Hey, baby,” Nicole said. “Jeremy has finished the freeze ray and Harper has an idea of where to look for the revenant.”

“We’ll be right there,” Waverly said, hanging up.

“Come on,” Waverly said. She helped Wynonna up and guided her out of Shorty’s. Wynonna leaned heavily on her shoulder and Waverly really hoped she was sober enough to do her job.

* * *

Waverly and Wynonna met up with the rest of the group outside the hardware store. Jeremy was adjusting knobs on the side of strange looking gun made up of a small body of knobs, a long metal tube and a small canister sticking down. Dolls, Harper and Nicole were standing together talking strategy.

“What’s the plan?” Wynonna said, trying and failing to hide that she had been drinking.

“We’re going in,” Dolls said, pointing between himself, Harper and Nicole. “We’re going to start tearing up the floor where the preacher should be. Harper believes this will lure the revenant out.”

“Why would that work?” Waverly asked. She put her arm around Wynonna’s waist to support her without drawing attention to it.

“They were good friends,” Harper said, avoiding looking over at Wynonna. “So the way he’s going back and forth between locations makes me think he is looking Jack. And it’s not like anyone else is coming up with any plans.”

“Then,” Dolls said, turning everyone’s attention back to planning. “I’ll freeze it with Jeremy’s freeze ray, then Wynonna will come in and put him down.”

“I can go in with you,” Wynonna said. She tried to pull away from Waverly, but stumbled, forcing Waverly to catch her. 

“We’ll stay here,” Waverly said, still holding her sister up.

Dolls took the gun from Jeremy then headed into the hardware store with Harper and Nicole. Waverly stood outside with Wynonna leaning on her and pouting while Jeremy stood next to them, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“I could have shot it,” Jeremy said. “I designed the gun.”

“It’s a very nice freeze ray,” Waverly said. “And I think Dolls was just looking out for you. Where would we be if you got hurt and we needed a laser blaster?”

“You would be short a totally kickass laser blaster,” Jeremy said, matching Waverly’s sweet smile.

Nicole poked her head out of the door and called for Wynonna.

“That was fast,” Waverly said, walking with Wynonna. 

“What can I say,” Nicole said, holding the door for them. “Our daughter is damn good at this.”

Waverly smiled and patted Nicole’s butt on the way by. Harper and Dolls stood by a man frozen in place. His face was frozen mid-scream and his fists were clenched. Wynonna walked up to him, placed a Peacemaker right between his eyes and fired. The hellmouth opened below him, thawing him enough to scream as he was pulled down to hell.

* * *

Harper haphazardly pulled clothes out of her drawers and shoved them into her duffel bag. She hadn’t brought much with her, so it wouldn’t take long to pack, but Waverly had insisted on coming with her anyway. Waverly stood next to her, not saying anything, but watching her with big sad eyes. Harper had moved to shoveling the items on top of the dresser into her bag when Waverly picked up a large frame with several pictures in it. 

Starting at the top of the frame, Waverly examined each one slowly. The top picture was of the gang by a fence on the Homestead that looked like it was taken in the not too distant future. The next was a picture of Waverly and Nicole holding a baby sitting on the couch in the living room, a poorly painted sign behind them reading “Welcome Home Baby Haught-Earp!”. Below that was Nicole and little Harper smiling broadly with frosting all over their faces, each holding a half eaten cookie that was really more frosting than cookie. Then came a picture of a teen Harper standing with Waverly at a busy carnival, a huge purple unicorn being squeezed tightly between them. Next was a picture of a tiny toddler sitting on a motorcycle, hands grasping one of the handle bars while Wynonna sat behind her, holding her up and smiling like an idiot at the camera. The last picture was of teenaged Harper and Alice sitting at the kitchen table with books spread out in front of them. Harper was leaning over towards Alice, pointing out something in a book while Alice rolled her eyes.

Waverly felt her chest tighten as she moved from picture to picture. There was a whole life her daughter had lived that Waverly would never really know about. Harper could tell all the stories she wanted, but Waverly knew they would never get to live them again, all the memories living on only in Harper.

“Do you want to keep that?” Harper asked, pointing at the picture frame.

“No, you should have it.” 

Waverly handed the frame back to Harper. She started to put it in her bag, but then stopped to look at it. Suddenly, she began to sob uncontrollably. Unsure what to do, Waverly pulled Harper to the bed and forced her to sit down. Harper collapsed into Waverly’s side, sobbing even harder. Waverly gently laid a hand on her back and began to hum an old song her mother used to sing. Harper’s crying slowed down then shifted into laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” Waverly asked, pushing back some stray strands of hair from Harper’s face.

“Growing up, you would always sing that song,” Harper said. She rubbed at her eyes as she sat up. “And here you are, singing it again, but now I’m older than you.”

Waverly joined in the laughter. “That is pretty weird.”

“I don’t know how to do this,” Harper said, growing serious again.

“I don’t think anyone knows how to do this,” Waverly admitted. “But we’re family no matter what. We’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t mean this,” Harper said, pointing between herself and Waverly. Then gesturing vaguely around, she said, “I mean all of this. I had two weeks to prepare and I’m realizing now that I had no idea what it really meant. I thought I knew. I’d leave all that, everyone I cared about, but I’d get here and I’d fix it and it would feel so wonderful to save my family that being alone wouldn’t matter. You would all have a second chance and that’s what mattered.”

“But now you feel alone, even though we’re right here,” Waverly said. Harper looked at her with such intense sadness in her eyes that Waverly had to fight back her own tears. “And you won’t get the second chance because as long as you are here-”

“Any child you and Nicole have,” Harper said, looking away and down at the floor. “Can’t be me.”

Waverly wrapped her arms around Harper and pulled her in for the tightest hug she could manage. Harper snaked her arms around the woman who was and wasn’t her mother and squeezed her right back. They sat there for a long while before Waverly pulled back to look Harper in the eye.

“I’m sorry I won’t ever be your real mama,” Waverly said, placing a hand under Harper’s chin so she couldn’t look away. “I’m sorry I won’t get to see you grow up or teach you all the things you need to know. But I can see some other me did a really good job raising you, because you are beyond amazeballs.”

Harper laughed at the use of her mother’s favorite adjective. Then she frowned and looked out the window as Doc pulled up with Wynonna in the passenger seat.

“Sometimes I wonder if Alice was right,” Harper said, scowling down at Wynonna. “Maybe I should have run away from the curse. It’s not like I have a single drop of Earp blood.”

Waverly smacked Harper on the back of the head. Harper whipped her head around to see a frowning Waverly.

“I know I raised you better than that,” Waverly said. “We are Earps. DNA doesn’t matter. Where you live doesn’t matter. What future you’re from doesn’t matter. You’re an Earp. What you’ve done is so incredibly brave and I am so glad to have you here. We are going to figure all of this out together, as a family. Now finish packing so I can take you to Nicole’s.”

Waverly stood up and headed down stairs to deal with Wynonna. Harper gently placed her picture frame at the top of her duffel. She did a sweep of the room to make sure she had everything, then shut her bag and joined Waverly downstairs.

* * *

Nicole left work a little early so she could swing by the store and buy new bedding for her guest bed. No one had ever used it before and Calamity Jane had pretty much claimed it for herself. The cat would not be pleased that she was losing her favorite napping place, but she’d get over it. Harper was coming to live with her and Nicole was excited.

She wasn’t thrilled about the circumstances, though she wasn’t terribly surprised Wynonna had driven Harper to move out. Wynonna had a tendency to lash out at those around her when things got rough. Waverly was upset, obviously, but Nicole made it clear that Waverly could come over as often as wanted, even giving her a key.

Even with all that, Nicole was so happy to have Harper staying with her. They had gotten to know each other in the weeks since Nicole had found out the truth, but since Harper had moved to the Homestead and started working with Black Badge they hadn’t gotten to see each other as much. It made sense that Harper work with Black Badge and move to the relative safety of the Homestead, but Nicole couldn’t help but miss her. 

Nicole made her way inside her home, fighting with the large bags of homey things that she had bought beyond the bedding to make Harper feel more at home. Dropping the bags down on the floor, she hit the light and immediately drew her gun.

“I wouldn’t do that, Officer Haught.” The blonde man with a beard dressed in all black sat on her couch smiling menacingly at her. 

“Why not?” Nicole said, tilting her chin and steadying her weapon. Several figures in all black stepped out into the open. Nicole briefly entertained the thought of fighting back, but decided the risk was too high. The nearest figure took her gun from her, then pushed her towards the couch. She took a few steps closer but refused to sit. “Who are you?”

“The name’s Daniel Reed,” the man said, amused by Nicole’s refusal to sit. “You and your friends have some things I need and you are going to help me get them. Before you refuse, you should really hear what I have to say.”

Nicole gritted her teeth, but remained silent. Daniel grew more amused by Nicole’s continued defiance.

“You will call your friends and tell them to hand over the Vendetta Relics they have found to us,” he said. “Or I will kill you. Then I will find and kill-” he looked down at a piece of paper in his hand, “Agnes Lucille Haught-Earp. Or Harper, I believe you call her? If they still fail to deliver the goods, I’ll move on to Waverly. Then perhaps Jeremy Chetri...”

Nicole fought every urge to lunge at him at strangle him with her bare hands, clenching her hands so tightly they had gone completely white. 

“The point I’m making is that I know who all of you are,” he said, standing up. “I know where all of you live. I can get inside your homes. Purgatory isn’t safe for you any more. Now make the call.”


	5. Chapter 5

Harper left the house without saying a word to Wynonna. She no longer felt the overwhelming urge to scream at her aunt, but she didn’t have any nice things to say either. Harper tossed her bag in Waverly’s jeep and waited for Waverly to come out of the house. Waverly came out a minute later and climbed into the driver’s seat, but didn’t start the car.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Waverly asked, not looking at Harper. “I’m sure Wynonna is sorry.”

“I need some space,” Harper said. “Maybe there’s just too much Earp in that house right now.”

“And not enough Haught?” Waverly asked, giving Harper a small smirk. “Well speak of the devil.” Waverly picked up her ringing phone and hit the speakerphone button. “Hey, baby. We are just leaving now.”

“Don’t come over,” Nicole said in a tense tone. “The Cult of Bulshar is here and-”

There was a gunshot and Nicole screamed in pain before the phone hit the floor.

“Nicole!” Waverly screamed into the phone. Harper gripped Waverly’s arm tightly, her eyes glued to the phone. They could low voices and Nicole moaning in pain.

“Hello, there,” a male voice said. Waverly recognized it as the man from the museum in Utah. Harper recognized it to.

“Daniel Reed,” Harper hissed into the phone. “I’m coming for Nicole, then I’m coming after you.”

“If it isn’t the youngest of the Earp clan,” Daniel said, his voice smug. “Sort of. That was just a warning shot. Bring us what Vendetta Relics you have and your mother will be fine. Shall we say midnight again? It’s such a great time for clandestine meetings with a cult.”

They heard Nicole scream in pain again then the line cut out. Waverly and Harper stared at each other, neither knowing what to do. 

“We should get over there,” Waverly said, her hands shaking as she tried to put the keys in the ignition. Harper put her hand over Waverly’s and took the keys away. Waverly looked over at her, confused.

“We need to get all the relics and give them to Daniel,” Harper said. Waverly stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

“Doesn’t that defeat the whole point of you coming back here?” Waverly said.

“My family dying defeats the point,” Harper said. 

“I am terrified for her too,” Waverly said. She took Harper’s hands and took a few deep breaths. “But I don’t think Nicole wants us to hand everything over. We need a plan.”

Harper nodded, then looked at the time. “But if we can’t come up with a plan in the next six hours. I’m handing all of the relics over.”

“And I’ll be right there with you,” Waverly said. “For right now, we need Wynonna.”

* * *

Nicole twisted her wrists, testing her bonds, but they held fast and dug into her flesh. She didn’t bother trying to free her feet. They’d patched up the gunshot wound to her leg, but the pain was still excruciating. Nicole watched the time tick by on her stove, trying to come up with some kind of plan. Waverly, Harper and the rest were going to come up with some scheme to get her out of there, but she’d much prefer getting out herself. Putting her loved ones in arms reach of a dangerous cult made her stomach churn.

“You’re looking a little pale,” Daniel said, coming back into the kitchen. He opened her fridge and rooted through it for a minute. “I’ve found some apple juice. Would you like some?”

Nicole tightened her jaw and glared.

“Fine,” he said, taking a drink himself right out of the bottle. Nicole made a mental note to throw out everything in the fridge. He knelt down in front of her and lifted up the bandage on her thigh. One of the cultists had cleaned the wound and stitched it up in a jagged line. “I’m afraid you’re going to have a scar. Casey is terrible at sewing. Probably shouldn’t have let her do this.”

He redid the bandage then pulled over one of the chairs to sit across from Nicole. He watched her for a while, not saying anything, and Nicole refused to say anything, her glare intensifying.

“So what do you think they are going to do?” He asked. “I think the heir will want to come in guns blazing, but your girls will want you back in one piece.”

“Why don’t we just kill her?” The cultist who had patched up Nicole’s leg, Casey, sauntered back into the kitchen.

“Because then they will kill us,” Daniel said, keeping his gaze on Nicole. “And besides, I want to show them we can be reasonable. We keep our promises. It’s important they know that.”

Daniel leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. Nicole knew he was trying to get something from her and she was determined to give him nothing.

“Don’t you have any questions for me?” He asked, smiling at her. “Like what do want? What’s our master plan? Why worship a demon? Or maybe, how do we know about your daughter who traveled here from the future to stop us?”

Nicole felt herself flinch, but kept all emotion off her face.

“We’ve been watching her, you know,” Daniel said, watching Nicole’s face carefully. “She’s not as stoic as you are. She’s more like her other mother, Waverly. Did that upset you? Knowing your only child was nothing like you?”

Nicole clenched her teeth. She knew he was full of shit and desperately wanted to scream it in his face, but she needed to stay calm and focused. Time was running out and she had nothing yet.

“I bet she’ll cry when I kill her.”

Nicole lunged at Daniel, slamming her shoulder hard into his face. They went down in a heap. Nicole landed on her side, still tied to the chair, so there was nothing more she could do. When the other cultists rushed into the room to help Daniel and pick her back up, Nicole took great satisfaction in seeing blood gushing from Daniel’s nose. 

Daniel grabbed a washrag from the kitchen counter and pressed it to his face. He tut-tutted her, taking his seat again, but sliding back away from her. 

“We can work with that anger,” Daniel said, his voice a little more nasal now. “Do you have any idea how much power anger can give to magic? You could keep your family safe.”

“Are you seriously trying to get me to join your cult right now?” Nicole scoffed. 

“I’m trying to get you to understand that there are alternative options,” Daniel said. “You can do the smart thing and help us, thus sparing Waverly and Harper, or you keep scanning the kitchen for a way to escape, which will fail and will result in someone dying, most likely you.”

Nicole remained silent. 

“Have it your way,” Daniel said. “Don’t say I didn’t try to be reasonable.”

He got up and left Nicole alone in the kitchen. Casey still stood at the door to the kitchen while two more cultists were milling about outside. Nicole had no idea what she was going to do, but she certainly wasn’t ready to give up.

* * *

A stack of law books, a bible and a moustache comb sat on the kitchen table in the Homestead. Harper sat staring at them silently, trying to concentrate through the yelling going on around her. As time went on, Waverly had grown more and more upset. No plan suggested by Wynonna, Dolls or Doc was good enough. It had to be the perfect, most foolproof plan ever conceived or she wasn’t hearing of it. 

“Just so I’m clear,” Wynonna said, yelling loud enough to get everyone else to shut up for a second. “You hate all of these plans, but you also hate handing over this pile of junk.”

“We all know what happened last time,” Waverly said. 

“What happened last time?” Harper asked. She did not recall hearing a story about any of them handing something over to the bad guys.

“Short version,” Wynonna said, looking over at her with frustration. “I stopped existing, everyone died, Clootie woke up.”

Harper frowned and looked over at Waverly who just shrugged. 

“Why don’t we just keep this simple,” Harper said. She pointed between herself and Wynonna, “We go in, hand over the items and get Nicole, then once she’s safe, everyone else jumps in and we get everything back.”

“No, you are not going in there,” Waverly shook her head. “I will go with Wynonna.”

“I’m not putting you at risk too,” Harper said. “Besides, if I die-”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Waverly snapped. Harper was taken aback by the ferocity in Waverly’s voice. She’d only heard it sound like that once before, the day she’d been burned.

“Harper’s plan is the most likely to get everyone out alive,” Dolls said, breaking the tense silence. “But there is a high risk of losing these items, which are apparently essential to breaking the Earp Curse.”

“I’m pretty sure they can’t destroy them just yet,” Harper said. “There’s a whole ritual that can only be performed at precise times during the year.”

Harper bit down on her lip thinking. The relics had been hard to destroy, that much she knew, but the details surrounding the ritual remained fuzzy.

“I just know that whatever the ritual is,” Harper said. “It practically destroyed the Homestead.”

“Well we won’t have to worry about that,” Wynonna said. “Because we are getting Nicole back and keeping all this shit.”

Harper looked at the pile of books and the comb. Then she remembered something.

“I may have one other thing I can add to this,” Harper said, standing up. “I brought a few things in case of emergency and I think this may qualify.”

* * *

Wynonna hoisted the bag of junk out her truck while Harper checked her gun. Waverly stood back with Dolls and Doc, pacing. She’d eventually agreed to hang back but made it clear she was coming in at the first sign of trouble. Wynonna nodded to Harper and they headed toward Nicole’s house.

Two cultists waited for them by Nicole’s front door. One opened the door and ushered them inside. Daniel waited for them in the living room, Nicole tied to a chair in front of him, a gag stuffed into her mouth. One of her pant legs had been cut above the knee and a bandage was wrapped around her thigh.

“I’m glad you came,” Daniel said, stepping out from behind Nicole.

“I bet that’s the first time you could say that to a woman,” Wynonna said, smirking. Daniel shook his head and continued.

“We can handle this like reasonable adults,” he said. He motioned for one of the cultists to take the bag from Wynonna, but she pulled it back.

“First we get Nicole,” Wynonna said.

“How about I untie her while my associate checks what you brought here,” Daniel said. 

He moved behind Nicole and knelt down to remove her binds. Wynonna held out the bag and the cultist took it, dumping the contents on the floor. Harper looked down at the pile nervously, making Wynonna elbow her hard in the ribs. The cultist dug through the pile of books and picked up the comb, carefully examining everything. As Daniel finished freeing Nicole from the chair, leaving her hands bound, the cultist pulled out a small magnifying glass from his pocket.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said, lifting the comb up to the magnifying glass. 

“What is it?” Daniel asked, dragging Nicole to her feet.

“This has been glamoured,” the cultist said. “It’s a pink sparkly comb with a unicorn on it.”

“What can we say,” Wynonna said shrugging. “Hairlip Charlie was big fan of sparkles.”

Daniel pulled Nicole in front of him and pointed a gun towards her head. She tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip on her arm. 

“I’m feeling generous this evening,” Daniel said. “I’m going to give you a chance to bring me the real-”

Before he could finish, Nicole hit his arm away from her head with her fists. The gun went off, missing her. As she struggled with Daniel, cultists threw themselves at Wynonna and Harper. Wynonna shot the closest one in the leg, dropping him just as the front door was flung open by Waverly brandishing her shot gun. Harper jumped over the back of the couch, tackling another. She knocked him out then turned back to see Nicole twist Daniel’s arm holding the gun into her right shoulder. Then the gun went off.

Harper couldn’t tell who was screaming, she just knew it was high and deafening. Daniel slammed back into the wall as Nicole hit the floor. The cultists abandoned their attack and grabbed Daniel, hurrying out the back door. Waverly shoved her way past Wynonna to get to Nicole who was laying on the floor bleeding profusely. Harper grabbed some rags from the kitchen and ran over, handing them to Waverly to press into Nicole’s wound.

“It’ll be fine,” Nicole winced. “I aimed carefully.”

“You are in so much trouble,” Waverly said, tears streaming down her face and falling onto her hands. Harper knelt down beside them, adding pressure to the wound while Wynonna called 911.

* * *

_Harper stared down at her ink stained fingers. She and her mama had been working on their most recent demon board, waiting for her mom’s shift to end so they could order pizza. She looked at the clock in the emergency room. That had only been a couple of hours ago, but it felt like much, much longer._

_They had been laughing about something, Harper had already forgotten the joke her mama told, when the phone rang. She had never seen her mama get so pale and still. She asked a few clipped questions then told Harper to get into the car._

_They didn’t have any more details, sitting in that ER, just that there had been shots fired at Shorty’s. The responding officer had been hit and transported to the hospital, that officer being Sheriff Haught-Earp. Wynonna had met them in the emergency room, but when it became clear they weren’t going to get answers any time soon, she left with Dolls to find Alice._

_Waverly held on to Harper so tightly, like she was her lifeline in the sea of lab coats and scrubs. Harper cried freely into her mama’s chest. She was scared, this was the first time she remembered her mom getting hurt on the job._

_Harper knew that being an Earp was dangerous. They regularly faced off against demons and revenants and all manner of supernatural creatures. She worried when her mom went off with her aunt, but she knew they would always take precautions. Harper had mentally prepared herself for that. But she had forgotten she also had to worry about drunk cowboys pissed they lost a game of pool._

_“Mama, I’m scared,” she said into Waverly’s shoulder._

_“Your mom is going to be fine,” Waverly said, stroking Harper’s hair. Her words were calming, but Harper could hear the waver in her voice, like she was just barely keeping it together for Harper’s sake._

_“She is the bravest, toughest, most careful person I know and whatever is happening in there, she is gonna pull through,” Waverly went on._

_“Plus, she wouldn’t dare die on you,” Harper added._

_“Damn right.”_

_Harper smiled, but the thought of her mom dying brought on another wave of tears. Waverly began to sing softly into Harper’s ear, the old lullaby she used to sing to Harper every night, now used to soothe her in her worst moments._

_A doctor finally approached them to update them on Nicole. Waverly leapt out of her chair, desperate to find out if her wife was OK._

_“She’s got a large contusion on her chest,” The doctor explained. “And we had to do surgery to repair her punctured lung. But other than a minor laceration on her calf, she’s going to be just fine. You can see her now.”_

_Waverly grabbed Harper’s hand and followed the doctor down the hall to Nicole’s room. When Waverly saw Nicole’s eyes open, she broke down in tears._

_“Mom! You’re awake,” Harper cried, leaning down to take her mom’s hand. Waverly went to the other side of the bed, placing her hands gently on Nicole’s forearm._

_“Hey.” Nicole sounded groggy from the anesthetic, but she smiled warmly at her family. “I have never been happier to see two people in my entire life.”_

_“What were you thinking?” Waverly asked. “You’re the sheriff now, you’re not supposed to be taking these stupid calls from Shorty’s anymore. That’s what deputies are for.”_

_“Cut ‘em loose early,” Nicole mumbled. “Let ‘em have a early start to the weekend.”_

_“God, you are something else.” Waverly brought Nicole’s hand up to her lips to kiss._

_“S’OK.” Nicole closed her eyes, the painkillers making her drowsy. “I’d never even think of dying ‘cause my wife would kill me.”_

_Waverly let out a wet, teary laugh. “Damn right.”_

_Harper and Waverly pulled a couple of chairs next to Nicole’s bed to sit with her while she slept. Waverly wrapped her arm around Harper’s shoulders and kissed her temple. Harper wasn’t sure how her mama dealt with this before. She knew this wasn’t the first time her mom had gotten hurt on the job and it was an awful feeling waiting around, wondering if someone you loved was going to be there the next day._

_She leaned her head against her mama’s as they waited to take Nicole home._

* * *

“Your sister, the police officer trained in firearms safety, was shot twice in one day, hours apart and you want me to believe it was an accident?” The doctor looked skeptically at Harper.

“Yes,” Harper nodded.

“You know that when she’s off these drugs and coherent,” the doctor said. “We are going to ask her what happened.”

“Yes,” Harper said again.

“I hate Purgatory,” the doctor muttered as he walked away.

Harper walked back into Nicole’s room where Waverly was sitting on the edge of her bed, watching Nicole sleep. Pulling over a chair, Harper sat down next to the bed. Waverly smiled at her and then turned her attention back to Nicole.

“The doctor said she’s going to be fine,” Harper said. Waverly looked back at Harper and reached over to take her hand.“They don’t believe the accident lie, but I couldn’t come up with anything else.” 

“It wasn’t an accident,” Nicole mumbled groggily. “It was cultists. I wouldn’t do what they wanted. So they shot me. Then I shot me. That really hurt.”

“Yes, baby,” Waverly said, smiling at Nicole. “But maybe don’t say that when the doctors are here.”

“Say what?” Nicole asked. She slowly moved her shoulder up and down, watching it move and wincing the whole time. Waverly gently put her hand on Nicole’s chest and Nicole looked up at her, a huge smile spreading across her face like Waverly had just appeared. “You’re the most beautiful girl in all the world. Do I get to marry you?”

Waverly blinked a few times, glancing over at Harper who was fighting back a laugh. Before Waverly could answer, Nicole went back to playing with her shoulder.

“We need to pick up the pace finding these things,” Harper said. “I’m going to go work with Wynonna and Dolls and come up with a plan to get McMaster’s badge. You should stay here, keep her company.”

“And stop her from telling the whole hospital about demons?” Waverly asked, again stopping Nicole from accidentally hurting herself. Harper laughed and hugged Waverly and Nicole before leaving.

“Waves, Waves, Waves,” Nicole said, feebly hitting Waverly’s arm to get her attention. “Have you seen our daughter? Have you? She’s so pretty. No, beautiful. So beautiful. And smart! Do you know how smart? Smarter than you, I think. That’s really really smart. She’s so smart. And beautiful. And perfect. Waves, all our babies will be so smart and beautiful and perfect. All five of them.”

Nicole held up a hand with her fingers outstretched. Waverly raised her eyebrows and laughed as Nicole examined her fingers.

“Wait, no,” Nicole said. “That’s too many. How will I protect them all?” Nicole started crying. “They’re so smart and beautiful but there are demons and strangers and coyotes.”

Waverly pulled her increasingly incoherent girlfriend closer, resting Nicole’s head on her shoulder.

“Wynonna’s going to stop the demons,” Waverly said, running her fingers through Nicole’s hair. “We will teach them not to talk to strangers and we’ll get a dog to keep away coyotes, OK?”

“You are so smart,” Nicole said, making Waverly giggle. “That’s why all our babies are smart. And you’re so beautiful. And I love you so much. And Harper! I love her so much too.”

“I love you too,” Waverly said, pressing a kiss to Nicole’s forehead.

“And Harper?” Nicole asked hopefully.

“And Harper too,” Waverly nodded. Nicole smiled and drifted off back to sleep.

* * *

The sun came in through the office window shining directly in Harper’s eyes. She blinked awake and sat up, a piece of paper sticking to her face. Pulling it off, she looked around the room to see Wynonna also passed out on the table. The clock read 8:30 which meant Harper had fallen asleep only two hours ago. Harper checked her phone, hoping for an update from Waverly, but there was nothing. 

Yawning, she got up and went out into the kitchen to get coffee. One of the officers had recently made a fresh pot, so Harper helped herself. Next to the pot, she saw a get well soon card open on the counter with instructions in Nedley’s handwriting for everyone to sign it for Nicole. Harper smiled, remembering how much the seemingly grumpy man cared about Nicole and her family. 

She went back into the Black Badge office and took her seat across from Wynonna. Harper knew the general location of Sherman McMaster’s badge, an encampment in the woods outside of town where revenants and humans lived side by side, but she didn’t know the specifics. The original plan had been for Black Badge to take their time researching and scouting the area, maybe conducting some interviews, but Harper was worried they didn’t have the time for that thorough of an investigation. 

“You must still be mad at me,” Wynonna said, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “You let me fall asleep on a table then didn’t bother to bring me coffee.”

“That’s just the kind of monster I am,” Harper said, staring intently at a topographical map of the woods. She’d been staring at it for hours, which wasn’t the best way to be spending her time, but the events of the previous day kept rolling through her mind and she was finding it hard to concentrate. 

Wynonna got up to fetch her own drink, then returned to sifting through papers. Harper was pretty sure Wynonna wasn’t actually reading anything, but she couldn’t really blame her. They were all tired and stressed.

“Any update on Haught shot?” Wynonna asked, setting aside a fifth page in as many minutes. 

“Not since I left the hospital,” Harper said, checking her phone again. “They’re probably sleeping.”

“So,” Wynonna said, trying to sound casual. “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Harper said. She continued to stare through the map.

“Yeah, I don’t believe you,” Wynonna said. “First, I’m going to apologize for being a shitty person. I’m working on it, but old habits die hard, ya know?”

Harper set down the map to look up at Wynonna who was giving her a sheepish ‘sorry I fucked up’ look. 

“To continue growing as a person, or whatever,” Wynonna said, pretend gagging at the words. “I want you to talk to me. Tell me how you’re doing. I’ll listen. Family bonding, it’ll be great.”

“I’m fine,” Harper repeated. Wynonna frowned at her. “Nicole is fine, we have the relics and another one in sight. It’s fine.”

Harper picked up a file of all the arrest records of the citizens of the wood’s encampment, hoping someone or something would stick out to her. Wynonna wasn’t done yet, though.

“I can see you’re not fine fine,” Wynonna said. Harper rolled her eyes and ignored her. “Since you yelled at me yesterday, I have been trying to figure out why you are putting yourself through all this. Alice and I are apparently raging shit tickets, yet you gave up everything to come back here. You and Nicole, hurting yourselves to help people you only sort of like.”

“Nicole and I love you and Alice,” Harper said, looking up at Wynonna. “You’re our family. Even if Alice didn’t always see it that way.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Wynonna said, resting her arms on the table and leaning forward.

“I know it’s not my fault or anything,” Harper said. “But because I’m not the heir and, as far as revenants and demonic folk are concerned, not even a real Earp, I got to grow up with my moms and their weird little family. I always knew I was loved and wanted for more than my ability to shoot a magic gun. I have had a pretty great life. Even after Alice showed up and you two started fighting all the time. I want to break this curse and give Alice the life she deserves, the one I had.”

Wynonna’s eyes had grown misty and she wiped them with her sleeve. “I think my allergies are acting up.”

“Besides, I may be an Earp, but I’m also a Haught,” Harper said. “I had the chance to metaphorically shoot myself in the shoulder to help people, so I did.”

“Sometimes I wonder if we need family therapy,” Wynonna said, smiling at Harper. She found herself hoping that when this was over, she’d do half as good a job at raising Alice as Waverly and Nicole had done raising Harper.

“It’s way too early for whisky,” Harper said. Wynonna laughed so hard she nearly choked on her coffee. Harper’s phone rang and she saw Waverly’s number pop up. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, of course,” Waverly said. “We’re just getting out of here and I was wondering if you could help me get Nicole back to the Homestead?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Harper hung up and grabbed her coat.

“Something happening?” Wynonna asked, grabbing her coat too.

“They’re discharging Nicole,” Harper said. “I’m going to help get her set up at the Homestead.”

“I’ll come too,” Wynonna said, pulling her keys out of her pocket. 

“You don’t have to,” Harper said.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Wynonna said as she followed Harper out of the office. “You don’t have a ride and I have been working on some top notch Haught puns.”

Harper nodded as they walked along. She still wasn’t sure she completely forgave Wynonna, but she was glad things with her aunt were looking up.

* * *

_Sundays when her moms were both at home were Harper’s favorite. Their lives could be dangerous and unpredictable, so she cherished all the time she was able to spend with the three of them together. Harper was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a newspaper, her mama next to her pouring over some book on obscure runes. Her mom was at the stove on pancake duty._

_“Hey, Harper,” Her mom said. “Food is almost ready, can you go wake your Aunt Wynonna? I don’t want to hear her complain all day about missing breakfast.”_

_“She was up and out of here hours ago,” Harper replied, not looking up from the page of comic strips. “Check the date.”_

_Nicole leaned over to the calendar hanging on the refrigerator._

_“Ah, April 18th.”_

__

_“We won’t see her until late,” Waverly commented, focused more on her readings._

_They all went back to being absorbed in their own little worlds. Nicole flicked on the old radio sitting on the counter. A twangy country song filled the room, loud enough to mask the sound of Alice quietly joining them. She shuffled directly to the coffee pot, rattling the handle to check to see if there was any left. Nicole, Waverly, and Harper all turned at the noise. At once, they realized their oversight. They had all forgotten the reason Wynonna disappeared on April 18th. It was Alice’s birthday._

_Alice took a long swig directly from the glass decanter, turning to see three pairs of eyes staring widely at her. Nicole, Waverly, and Harper all looked helplessly at each other, Nicole finally being the first to recover._

_“So, Alice. What are you up to today,” She asked casually._

_Alice, unsettled by the way they were all regarding her, shoved the pot back into its place. “I’m sure as shit not gonna be hanging out here with y’all," she said, before heading back to her room._

* * *

_Alice jammed her hands into her sweatshirt pockets, stalking down one of the dirt roads that led out of Purgatory. She figured she could kill a couple of hours before Doc opened Shorty’s and then go hang out there for the rest of the afternoon. Doc wasn’t exactly the father figure she’d always dreamt of, but he was usually good for a place to crash at now and then as well as endless plates of free fries. She was also pretty sure she’d be able to talk him into giving her a shot of whisky for her birthday._

_She picked up a stone and threw it down the road, seeing it hit the ground in a small puff of dust. Alice was trying not to feel so **Sixteen Candles** about her morning, since she mostly didn’t care about birthdays. Gus was not a sentimental woman and did not feel the need to throw Alice lavish parties or buy expensive gifts. That was fine with Alice because the only thing her birthday marked was yet another year passed that her mother never came for her. Still, she thought they’d at least acknowledge it was her birthday. Her Aunt Waverly went crazy for celebrations. Last winter, Waverly had planned so many festivities, Harper’s birthday spilled into a second day. She picked up another stone, this time throwing at a nearby barn window. It crashed through the pane, the glass shattering giving Alice a feeling of satisfaction._

_A car drove down the road, the sound of tires crunching on gravel and loose dirt sending Alice into a brief panic. She looked for a place to hide, thinking it was one of the police department’s deputies. Alice was convinced her Aunt Nicole had them following her around town, trying to keep an eye on her and she really didn’t feel like getting arrested today. She relaxed when she recognized the red Jeep. Her aunt slowed the car down, coming to a stop next to Alice before leaning over the passenger seat and popping open the door._

_“Get in,” Waverly said._

_Alice hesitated, but only for a moment. After the Christmas disaster last year that ended with Waverly taking a shot at her with her Winchester, Alice was not in the business of ignoring her aunt’s requests. And she wanted to get shot even less than arrested today. She slid into the car and shut the door. Waverly pulled away without offering an explanation, but before long, Alice could tell they were heading out of town toward the Northern boundary of the Ghost River Triangle._

_“What’s going on?” Alice finally asked._

_“Just listen, OK?”_

_Alice nodded._

_“First of all,” Waverly started. “I want to apologize for all of us this morning. This day is always very hard for Wynonna and in the past, we’ve tried to let her have her peace. I’ll never forgive myself for forgetting your birthday.”_

_“It’s fine,” Alice muttered, leaning her head against window. “It doesn’t matter.”_

_“Of course you matter.” Waverly turned her head slightly to look at Alice. “I know you don’t agree with the decision your mom made, but you have to understand she did what she thought had to be done. Not a day went by where she wasn’t thinking of you.”_

_Alice couldn’t bring herself to respond. Waverly’s words were cold comfort for a girl who spent those same days praying her mother would come back for her, wondering why she wasn’t enough to be loved. That was, until she realized the Earps didn’t give two shits about her. They didn’t want her, they needed her. They needed her to be ready to be the next heir._

_They drove a few more minutes, Waverly finally pulling over next to Wynonna’s truck parked on the side of the road next to a steep hill._

_“I don’t ask you for much,” Waverly said. “But I’m asking you - please talk to her today.”_

_Alice stepped out of the car and followed the path up the hill. When she reached the top, she could see out over an endless field of clover. The purple flowers carpeted the landscape, swaying gently in the breeze. Wynonna was sitting on a weathered, wooden bench that had definitely seen better days._

_“This might be the most beautiful spot in the world,” Wynonna said quietly. “I used to come here on this day and remind myself what I was doing and just hoping I was on the right path. I fucking hate Purgatory most of the time. It’s the site of all of my worst memories. The weight of my failures is suffocating, but out here? Here I can breathe.”_

_“Your failures,” Alice spoke, but she hated how her voice sounded pathetic and strangled. She hated that she cared. “That include me?”_

_“Alice. Listen to me right now.” Wynonna shifted in her seat, making sure to look Alice directly in the eye. “I have fucked up a lot of things in my shit show of a life, but you are not one of those things. You are the one thing I ever did right.”_

_Alice shut her eyes, feeling tears threatening to spill over. “But you went and fucked that right up too.”_

_“Yeah.” Wynonna’s chin trembled. “I guess I did.”_

_Their conversation died, the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and birds chirping falling over them. Alice contemplated how she was going to get back to town, given that she wasn’t even sure exactly where she was._

_“I always dreamed of being here with you on your birthday. I just wish it was under better circumstances.” Wynonna gave a small head tilt to the open space on the bench, inviting Alice to sit next to her._

_The whole situation was too much for Alice. A small part of her wanted to forgive, to throw herself into the waiting arms of her mother. But the part that was hurt and resentful from so many absent years filled her like an untapped reservoir whose depths she might never know. Most days she was afraid she would never stop feeling so much anger._

_“It’s too late for us, Wynonna,” Alice finally said. “I don’t need a mother.”_

_There was nothing Wynonna could say to Alice to fix them. Not that day. Not for a long time. Alice left Wynonna on the bench and started on her long walk back to Purgatory._

* * *

They got Nicole situated on the couch after a failed attempt to get her up the stairs. Nicole was hell bent on staying with them and helping and so fought every step. She finally agreed to take the couch as long as they did their work in the kitchen. Wynonna ran back to the Black Badge office to grab their files and Dolls. Harper was going to help until Nicole started crying at the prospect of Harper leaving her.

Waverly set about making them pancakes while Harper babysat Nicole. Nicole rambled on about nothing and Harper couldn’t help smiling at the scene. She was reminded of many a lazy Sunday from her childhood and for a little bit, everything felt normal.

“Pancakes!” Waverly said in a sing-song voice as she carried plates into the living room.

“She fell asleep,” Harper said, taking one of the plates and pointing at a sleeping Nicole. 

Waverly smiled down at Nicole’s sleeping form, then gestured for Harper to come back into the kitchen. Harper followed Waverly and they sat down at the kitchen table to eat. 

“How are things coming on the next relic?” Waverly asked, pouring syrup over her pancakes.

“We know the general area to look,” Harper said. She took the syrup from Waverly and dumped an unholy amount on top of her breakfast. “But it’s overrun with revenants and people, so we can’t exactly head over there and conduct an exhaustive search.”

“Knocking on revenant doors and asking about Earp posse memorabilia would probably bring trouble,” Waverly agreed. “Do we know who last had it?”

“Yes,” Harper said slowly, trying to recall the reading she’d done the night before. “Milford Braggs.”

“Briggs,” Waverly corrected. “Wynonna took him out a while ago.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harper said, forcefully stabbing a pancake. “That’s why I don’t know where it is now.”

“Alright, I don’t need that attitude,” Waverly said. Harper laughed.

“Wow,” Harper said. “I haven’t heard that in a while.”

“I smell pancakes!” Wynonna yelled as she walked in the house. She and Dolls came into the kitchen holding boxes of papers.

“I’ll get you pancakes if you get me the arrest records,” Harper said standing up and walking over to the stove to make more food for everyone.

After several hours, they had made very little progress. Their ‘maybe’ stack was four times the size of their ‘no’ stack and they hadn’t been able to pin down any solid leads. Harper was beginning to think knocking on revenant doors wasn’t such a terrible plan.

Nicole shuffled into the kitchen, limping slightly and looking tired but more alert than she had all day. Waverly leapt out of her seat and rushed over to make sure she was alright. 

“Are you feeling better?” Waverly asked, checking Nicole’s bandage and adjusting her sling.

“Both still hurt,” Nicole said, leaning against the counter for support. “But I’m feeling a lot better.”

“Good,” Waverly said before punching Nicole in her good arm. Nicole stumbled slightly in shock, but Waverly caught and steadied her. “That is for shooting yourself.”

“I didn’t see any other way,” Nicole said. She leaned heavily onto Waverly and let Waverly guide her to the kitchen table. 

“If you do something stupid like that again,” Waverly said helping Nicole into her chair. “Or- or die! I’m going to kill you.”

“I’m sorry,” Nicole said. She and Harper exchanged a glance and a smirk.

“Now are you hungry?” Waverly asked. “We left some pancake batter for you.”

“Yes, please,” Nicole said.

“Glad you’re doing alright,” Dolls said, giving her a nod.

“But it looks like you landed yourself in Haught water,” Wynonna said, gently elbowing Nicole in the ribs and winking at her.

“So how about the case?” Nicole said as she grabbed the nearest pile to her to look at. Anything to change the subject.

“We have ruled out five people,” Harper said, tapping the smallest pile on the table. “Because they are dead.”

“Wait, I know this woman,” Nicole said. She held out a picture to Harper. The picture was a surveillance photo of Briggs standing next to an older woman in front of small wooden shack. “She runs an antique store and was accused of selling fakes. There wasn’t enough evidence to make an arrest though.”

“Finally, a lead,” Wynonna said as she slapped Nicole’s shoulder. Nicole winced and gritted her teeth. “Sorry. How about Dolls and I go check her out while you three stay here and keep reading just in case.” 

Wynonna hopped up and grabbed the picture from Harper. Dolls got up and thanked Waverly for breakfast before following Wynonna out. Harper briefly considered asking to go with them, but then Waverly set down more pancakes in front of a practically drooling Nicole and Harper decided she really did prefer to be there.

* * *

Wynonna and Dolls pulled up to the edge of the woods nestled between the Purgatory town limits and the edge of the Ghost River Triangle. Dolls eyed the woods nervously, his last trip into a forest had not done anything to ease his fears. Wynonna punched him in the leg before getting out of the car.

“Come on, Dolls,” Wynonna said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I don’t know,” Dolls said, double checking his weapon before getting out of the car. “A magical wolf bear person could try to kill us.”

“You are a man-dragon,” Wynonna said. “You’ll be fine.”

Wynonna set off for the woods with Dolls on her heels. The whole walk to the encampment, Dolls kept his gun out, eyes scanning the area. Once they reached the outermost tents and shacks, Wynonna gestured for Dolls to put his gun away. He did so, but begrudgingly.

Several people were milling about, talking among themselves, and a few were playing cards under a tarp that had been strung up between three poles. Wynonna walked up to the card players and grabbed the nearest one’s shoulder.

“Seen this woman?” Wynonna asked, shoving the surveillance picture in the man’s face. 

“Fuck off,” he said, turning back to his cards. Wynonna pulled out Peacemaker, the barrel glowing, and several of those standing around them quickly and quietly took their leave.

“I said, have you seen this woman,” Wynonna said. The man rolled his eyes and snatched the picture from her to get a closer look. 

“She lives over there,” the man pointed to a cluster of shacks. “In the shitty shack.”

“That’s sooo helpful,” Wynonna said sarcastically. She pressed Peacemaker against the man’s cheek, letting it burn a little. “Can we specific that up?”

“Back row, third one from the left,” he said, pulling his head away from Peacemaker.

“Thank you,” Wynonna said, holstering her gun and walking off towards the shacks. 

Reaching the back row, Wynonna did notice the third shack was in fact shittier than the rest. There were large gaps between the planks and the roof was a sheet of plastic. Instead of a door, there was a yellow stained bedsheet nailed to the doorframe. 

“Do I knock?” Wynonna asked Dolls. “What’s the criminal shack etiquette?”

“Between the two of us,” Dolls said. “I think you would be the one to know that.”

“Ouch,” Wynonna said. “That stung a little.”

Wynonna raised her hand to knock on the wall when an angry old woman threw back the bed sheet.

“I can hear you out here, ya know,” she said, scowling at the two of them. “Didn’t you see the big ass holes in the wall?”

“Hello, ma’am,” Dolls said, stepping forward and pulling out his badge. “We came to ask you a few questions about Milford Briggs.”

“He’s dead,” the woman said bluntly. Then she twitched her thumb toward Wynonna. “She shot him.”

“I know that,” Dolls said. “Our questions were more about his possessions.”

“Why would I know about Millie’s crap?” The woman crossed her arms, her face growing more annoyed. 

“You deal in antiques, don’t you?” Dolls said, giving her a smile. “We thought maybe that meant you’d know about any older items being passed around camp.”

“Did he have something of value?” Her eyes narrowed, watching Dolls closely. Wynonna started to speak, but Dolls put up a finger.

“Sentimental value only,” he said. “I’m a collector of historical law enforcement badges and I heard he had a Texas Ranger badge in his possession when he died. It would mean a lot to me if I could get ahold of it.”

“What’s it worth to you?” Dolls pulled out his wallet, but she shook her head. “I’m not talking about money, sweet cheeks.”

Wynonna snort laughed and Dolls let his eyes wander over to her for a second before looking back at the old woman and clearing his throat. “What would you like?”

“Dinner,” the woman said. “And a movie. Then we’ll see where it goes.”

“I-” Dolls started, but Wynonna cut him off.

“Done!” She said as she slapped Dolls on the back. He pressed his lips together in a tight line, but nodded. The woman cackled with delight then ducked back into the shack. A few objects came flying out of the doorway, narrowly missing Wynonna and Dolls, before reemerging with a small, worn Texas Ranger badge. Dolls reached out to take it, but she yanked it back from him.

“Your phone first,” she said, holding out her other hand. Dolls handed over his phone and she punched her number in with glee, then called herself from his phone. Once she was satisfied, she handed over the badge and winked at him. “Call you later.”

Once they were back at the car, Wynonna burst out laughing and nearly fell over. Dolls shook his head and climbed in the car, started it up and pulling a few feet backwards. Wynonna leapt for the passenger door, but it was locked.

“This is not funny,” Dolls said, lowering the window a few inches. 

“It’s hilarious,” Wynonna said. He backed up a little more. “Sorry, sweet cheeks, but I will walk back to Purgatory before I say this isn’t funny.”

Dolls unlocked the door and Wynonna climbed in.

“Your whole family owes me big for this,” Dolls said. Wynonna quickly agreed, then returned to laughing hysterically as they drove home.

* * *

Harper stood on the edge of the Homestead, leaning on the fence and looking out over the road. Dolls’ SUV had just appeared on the horizon and would be arriving shortly. They hadn’t been gone long, so Harper hoped for good news. Maybe they had lucked out and something had actually been easy.

When the car pulled up, Harper turned to face them, but stayed against the fence. Wynonna jumped out and did a triumphant dance, holding the badge high in the air. Harper gave her a short round of applause.

“Another relic secured,” Harper said. “Good work.”

“It was all Dolls,” Wynonna said, winking at him. He just shook his head.

“If our research,” Harper said. “Or rather, other your and my research is correct, then that’s only three left. Dan Tipton, Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers.”

“Brothers?” Wynonna scrunched her face as if doing some sort of difficult math in her head. “That sounds like more than three.”

“Well, seven is kind of a big deal with this curse,” Harper said. “So we hypothesize that the Earp brothers share a relic, bringing the total to seven.”

“Because ten relics would be ridiculous,” Wynonna said.

“Nine,” Harper corrected. 

“No, ten,” Wynonna said, doing more math. “Three Earp brothers were in the posse. Seven and three is ten.”

“Six non-Earps plus three Earps is nine.” Harper crossed her arms a little smugly.

“Damn it,” Wynonna muttered. Then Wynonna glanced over at the house. “What are you doing out here?”

“Nicole needed help showering,” Harper said. Wynonna gave her a knowing look. “Yeah. And though I think I’ve come to terms with them not really being my parents, it’s still weird.”

“How about we go put this somewhere safe and then bring back some food in case they’re hungry after all the-” Wynonna waggled her fingers in the air suggestively.

“Sure,” Harper nodded. “If you promise not to do that ever again.”

“I make no promises,” Wynonna said, opening the back door of the car for Harper. 

“It’s a miracle no one has shot you,” Harper said climbing into the back seat. “Yet.”

“What do you mean yet?” Wynonna asked.

“Well I’ve definitely thought about it,” Dolls said.

“Not cool, guys,” Wynonna said. “Totally not cool.”

* * *

Waverly eased Nicole’s arm into her shirt sleeve, being careful to cause as little pain as possible. Nicole tried to keep a straight face, but ended up wincing when Waverly tugged the shirt over her shoulder. Waverly softly laid her hand on Nicole’s chest, looking concerned.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Waverly said, giving Nicole an apologetic kiss. 

“It’s OK,” Nicole said. She reached down with her left hand and tried to button her shirt, but couldn’t manage. Waverly gently swatted her hand away and buttoned it for her. Nicole chuckled to herself. “I’m not used to you doing the buttons up.”

“I don’t have to,” Waverly said, smiling mischievously. She placed a hand on the back of Nicole’s neck and pulled her into a kiss. Nicole put her arm around Waverly’s waist kissing her back, then winced and pulled away. “Oh no, did I hurt you? I’m sorry.”

“No,” Nicole said. She pressed a quick kiss to Waverly’s forehead. “And this is kinda my fault anyway.”

“I was thinking about that,” Waverly said. Nicole looked worried, but Waverly gave her a reassuring smile and took her hand. “You’ve now been attacked twice in your house, both times you ended up in the hospital. And so I thought it would be safer if you moved in here. With me.”

“You want me to move in with you?” Nicole asked. Waverly nodded. “Because it’s safer?”

“That’s not the only reason,” Waverly said, pushing a loose strand of hair off of Nicole’s face and then trailing her fingers down Nicole’s cheek. “Just the most pressing one. I love you and I want you here with me.”

Nicole leaned back, away from Waverly’s touch. She furrowed her brow in concern and looked down at the ground.

“Oh,” Waverly said. Nicole couldn’t see her face, but could hear the hurt in her voice. “Do you not want to live together?”

“It’s not that,” Nicole said. “It’s that we haven’t really had a chance to talk about Harper. Or what Harper means for us, our future.”

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured to move our relationship forward if you aren’t ready or…” Nicole swallowed thickly, her words catching in her throat. “Or if you don’t want to, just because some future versions of us are married.”

Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole’s neck again. “Baby, that’s not why I want you to move into the Homestead.”

“Yeah?” Nicole asked.

“Yeah. Sure, I was a little scared at first. Seeing my entire life laid out in front of me was kind of terrifying. But then I realized that Harper’s parents aren’t us, not really. It was just one possibility.” Waverly maneuvered herself to make eye contact with Nicole, who was still trying to avoid looking at her. “And it was kind of nice to think about, you know, because I don't exactly _hate_ the idea of being married to you.”

Nicole exhaled shakily, giving Waverly a shy smile. “Really?”

Waverly pushed up on her toes to capture Nicole’s lips. Nicole slipped her hand under the hem of Waverly’s shirt, pressing her fingers into Waverly’s lower back to pull her closer. 

“Of course, you dope. I’m not saying I want to get married tomorrow, but I am ready to take this next step with you.”

Nicole pressed her lips to Waverly’s but had to pull away because she was smiling too much. She rested her forehead against Waverly’s.

“So that’s a yes?” Waverly asked, hopeful.

“Yes,” Nicole laughed. “I’m relieved actually, that I’m not the only one freaked out about Harper being here.”

“I know. I’ve seen a lot of unbelievable stuff,” Waverly agreed. “But _our daughter_. That’s crazy, right?”

“Sometimes I think so, but Harper is such an incredible kid. That’s how I know, somehow, this is all real. Because she’s just like you, Waves.”

Waverly blushed and leaned up to kiss Nicole again before they were finally interrupted.

“Don’t be naked!” Wynonna said, flinging open the door to Waverly’s room. She looked at them and appeared visibly relieved that they were fully clothed. “Whew. Alright, recap, we got the badge, hid it, then brought back Thai. I’ve invited Doc over so we can interrogate him about what his relic could be. My money’s on his tuberculosis handkerchief.” 

“That’s…” Waverly let her voice trail off so Nicole finished for her.

“Disgusting.”

“Yup, that’s what I was going to say,” Waverly said, leaning against Nicole. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Nicole said. They started to walk out of the room when Nicole said, “When we go get my stuff, we are buying a good lock for that door.”

“Wait, what?” Wynonna said, following after them.

“Nicole is moving in and you don’t understand how knocking works.”

“I understand it,” Wynonna replied. “I just don’t do it. Two totally different things. Wait, Haught’s moving in? When did that happen?”

Ignoring Wynonna, Waverly helped Nicole down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dolls was opening all the takeout containers while Harper set out plates and silverware. Waverly got Nicole situated in a chair then tried to fix her a plate, but Nicole took it from her, insisting she could get her own food. They all sat down and helped themselves, enjoying a little break before whatever lay ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

“I assure you a blood covered handkerchief is not my most prized possession from my time on the Vendetta Ride.” Doc looked at Wynonna in exasperation. She’d bet Nicole twenty bucks it was the handkerchief and wouldn’t stop pressing Doc. 

“Are you sure?” Wynonna asked again. Doc gave her a look, then turned back to the rest of the group. Wynonna, Doc, Waverly and Dolls were spread out in the living room discussing the next relic. Harper had taken Nicole upstairs after her next round of pain medication had started making her loopy again.

“I am sorry I’m not more useful,” Doc said, pushing his hat further up on his brow. “I’ve just never been the sentimental type, unlike the other gentlemen on the ride.”

“Well that’s bullshit,” Waverly said, glaring at Doc. “You’re a big softie and we all know it. I remember how upset you got when a demon ate your hat.”

“Your hat!” Wynonna said, grabbing the hat off Doc’s head. He made a grab at it, but Wynonna deposited it on her own head. “Well that was easy.”

“Not this hat,” Doc said. He took his hat off Wynonna’s head and put it back on.

“Balls! It was eaten by a demon,” Waverly said, falling back into the couch cushions.

“Not that hat either,” Doc said. “If it is my hat from my days in the posse, well then, I gave it away.”

“Why did you do that?” Wynonna asked. “You hate being without your hat. And you look weird.”

“I gave it away when I thought I was dying,” Doc said, his mustache twitching slightly. “I didn’t think I would be needing it any longer.”

“Who did you give it to?” Dolls asked.

“A boy by the name of Jimmy Miller.”

“James Miller?” Waverly asked. “I’m sure there aren’t a million of those floating around.”

“So we need to do more research,” Wynonna groaned. “The whole point of asking you was so I wouldn’t have to do more research.”

A phone started ringing and everyone checked theirs. After everyone affirmed it was not their phone, they began looking around. Waverly then pulled Nicole’s ringing phone out of the couch and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Waverly,” Nedley said. “Is Nicole feeling alright?”

“Yeah,” Waverly said. “She’s resting right now. Did you need to talk to her?”

“Actually, I need Wynonna,” he said, sounding vaguely annoyed at his own words. Waverly handed the phone over to Wynonna with a shrug.

“Hello?” She said.

“It’s Sheriff Nedley. We have a case that, uh, well, you should get down here. And bring Dolls.” He gave Wynonna an address and hung up.

“Guess this means I’m off of research duty,” Wynonna said, smiling broadly as she grabbed Dolls and filled him in.

* * *

Nicole hadn’t wanted to go upstairs but the drugs were kicking in and she was finally convinced she needed to lay down. Harper helped her up the stairs to Waverly’s room, soon to be Waverly’s and Nicole’s room, the thought of which made Nicole smile. By the time Harper got Nicole into bed, Nicole was having trouble forming coherent thoughts, but she knew she wanted to talk to Harper.

When Harper went to leave, Nicole caught her sleeve and tugged her back. She wanted to ask Harper to stay, but it came out in more of a pleading tone. Harper nodded and took a seat on the edge of the bed, patiently waiting for what Nicole had to say.

“You have a best friend,” Nicole said. Harper raised her eyebrows and Nicole frowned. That wasn’t quite what she’d meant to say. She tried again. “Who’s your best friend?”

Harper stayed quiet for a few moments, then said, “You guys are.”

“No,” Nicole shook her head. She reached out and took Harper’s wrist. “You only talk about family.”

“Well, family is everything,” Harper said. “You should sleep.”

“What about a girlfriend or a…” Nicole trailed off, trying to think of the other word. “Boy-man.”

“Boyfriend?” Harper asked.

“You had a boyfriend!” Nicole said, squeezing Harper’s arm and looking pleased.

“Lord no,” Harper shook her head. “There was no one. Trust me. All I need is you guys. Now get some sleep so you can get back out here with the rest of us.”

“Someone has to keep human Purgatory safe,” Nicole said, now settling down to sleep.

“And that’s you.” Harper smiled and waited for Nicole to drift off before going to join everyone downstairs.

When she got down to the living room, only Waverly was left. She was packing up the research that had been left on the kitchen table, humming to herself.

“Where’d everybody go?” Harper asked, stepping into the kitchen to help. 

“Wynonna and Dolls were called off to help Nedley with something and Doc went back to Shorty’s,” Waverly said. She dropped the box of papers on the ground then took a seat at the kitchen table. She looked exhausted, but kept a smile on her face. “How’s Nicole doing?”

“She’s sleeping,” Harper said. She sat down at the table next to Waverly “And I got her down with minimal rambling this time. That’s an improvement.”

“But she’s so cute when she rambles,” Waverly said, resting her chin in her hands and looking off in the general direction of Nicole.

“Was any progress made on the Doc front?” Harper asked, wanting to change the direction of their conversation.”

“We think it’s the hat he wore back then,” Waverly said. “But he gave it away to someone named James Miller.”

“Oh great, there are like a million of those,” Harper said. She dropped her head onto the table and groaned.

“So we better get started right away.” Waverly rapped her knuckles sharply on the table. Harper raised her head and watched as Waverly hopped up and grabbed the box of papers from the floor.

“What are you doing?” Harper asked.

“I’m going to take these back to Black Badge then get to work on finding Doc’s hat,” Waverly said.

“When’s the last time you slept?” Harper asked, standing up and taking the box from Waverly.

“I napped at the hospital with Nicole,” Waverly said. She tried to reclaim the box, but Harper pulled it further away.

“You go sleep. I will take these back to Black Badge,” Harper said. Waverly didn’t move. She just stood there smiling at Harper. “Go now.”

“Thank you,” Waverly said. 

Waverly gave Harper a hug then trudged upstairs. Harper was feeling pretty exhausted herself, but she’d actually managed to get some sleep the night before. She grabbed Waverly’s keys off the hooks by the door, loaded the box into the car then set off for the Black Badge office again.

* * *

_Harper shoved one more book into her bag then stared at the remaining books in her locker. It was only the first day of school so she didn’t technically need to take all the books with her, but she wanted to. She had loaded up with extra classes to get as much college credit as she could before graduating from high school that year and she really wanted to get a jump on her reading._

_The halls had cleared out pretty much the second the bell rang, so Harper was surprised when someone knocked on her open locker door. She swung it shut and found a shorter blonde girl smiling up at her._

_“Hey, Bethany,” Harper said, absently fiddling with the lock on her locker._

_“Hey, Harper.” Bethany smiled. “Did you have a good summer?”_

_“Yeah,” Harper said, thinking about the large underground demon nest she’d helped her family exterminate. “Did some spelunking with my family. You?”_

_“Hockey camp,” Bethany said. She bit her lip before continuing. “What are you doing on Friday?”_

_“Isn’t Friday the Welcome Back Bonfire?” Harper asked. She swung her backpack up onto her shoulder so she could have something to do with her hands. She never thought about what her hands were doing, but right now it was all she could focus on._

_“Yeah, but I know you don’t ever go to bonfire nights,” Bethany said. “So I thought maybe we could do something else? There’s a special screening of The Wicker Man. I know that movie’s like a hundred years old, but a movie about a crazy cult sounds fun.”_

_“Crazy cults are fun,” Harper said, tightening and loosening the strap on her backpack. “In movies, not in real life. Real cults aren’t fun. Not that I have any experience with cults. Why would I? Movie. Friday. Sounds good.”_

_“Great,” Bethany said. “It’s at seven. We can meet at the theater, then grab some food after?”_

_“Yeah,” Harper nodded._

_“Cool,” Bethany said. “I have to get to practice, I’ll see you later.”_

_Bethany turned and walked off down the hall. Then she spun around, walking backwards so she could wave goodbye to Harper before turning the corner. A hand came down on Harper’s shoulder making her jump. Alice stood behind her with that obnoxious smirk of hers._

_“Who was that?” Alice asked, gesturing down the hall with her chin._

_“No one, what are you doing here?” Harper asked, slipping her backpack the rest of the way on._

_“I had to pick up some dumb GED crap,” Alice said, waving a folder. “And Waverly is still getting demon goo out of everyone’s clothes so she asked if I could pick you up.”_

_“Alright, then let’s go,” Harper said. She pushed past Alice and walked out to the parking lot._

_The entire ride back to the Homestead Alice needled Harper about the girl in the hallway. Harper ignored her and stared out the window. She and Bethany had hung out a few times the previous of school year, but that was all. Harper may have looked like her mom, but she had none of her confidence or swagger when it came to girls._

_When they reached the Homestead, Harper hopped out of the car and jogged up to the house before Alice had even turned the car off. Waverly stood in the kitchen, elbow deep in suds and surrounded by wet, sticky clothes._

_“Ew, what happened?” Harper asked, poking a slimy shirt stuck to the counter._

_“Eggs. So many eggs,” Waverly said, scrubbing more fiercely. “Your mom had to go to work and Wynonna and Dolls are chasing the thing that laid the eggs, so I’m the one who has to clean it all up. Oh balls!”_

_Waverly’s scrubbing had sloshed a large amount of water and soap onto the floor. Harper tossed her bag over to the couch and grabbed the mop out of the closet._

_“Thanks, sweetie,” Waverly said as Harper began to mop up the mess. “I started putting together a list for our movie night on Friday and I need your input.”_

_“Oh, about that.” Harper stopped scrubbing and leaned awkwardly on the mop. “I was wondering if I could go to the movies with Bethany on Friday.”_

_“Who is Bethany?” Waverly asked as she threw a shirt into the sink._

_“You know Bethany,” Harper said, but Waverly just frowned and shook her head. “She’s one of the captains of the hockey team.”_

_“Oooohhhh, Bethany Mikkelsen,” Waverly said. She turned and winked at Harper who felt her face turn bright red. “Of course you can go. I’ll keep your mom company at the bonfire. Then we can force her to watch our movies with us on Saturday.”_

_“Great,” Harper said. That had gone much more smoothly than she had anticipated._

_“Do we need to go over anything?” Waverly asked._

_“Like what?” Harper asked, regretting the words the second they came out her mouth._

_“You know, safe sex stuff,” Waverly said, leaning against the sink and turning towards her ever reddening daughter. “I can show you how to turn a condom into a dental dam again.”_

_“No need,” Harper said, now backing out of the kitchen. “That is permanently seared into my brain. I’m gonna go study.”_

_“It was the first day, what could you possibly have to study?” Alice said, sauntering into the kitchen._

_“She is just running away because she doesn’t want to talk sex with her mama,” Waverly smiled back over her shoulder at Alice._

_“Ha, I knew she wasn’t no one,” Alice said, the smirk back on her face. “Harper’s got a Haught date! Harper’s got a Haught date!”_

_“Shut up, Alice,” Harper shouted as she stomped upstairs._

_Harper flung herself on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She heard someone come in the front door and the conversation downstairs picked up. Waverly was telling Wynonna about Harper’s date and Wynonna was demanding to know if anyone had made a ‘Haught date’ joke. Alice reassured her that she was all over it and laughter floated up to Harper. With all the arguing and yelling that had gone on over the past several years, she often thought too many people lived on the Homestead, but moments like this, with all the laughter, even if at her expense, made her happy they all lived there together._

_Her phone buzzed and she dug it out of her pocket to find a two texts. One was from Bethany, **can’t wait for Friday ;)** , and a text from Waverly with an apology for embarrassing her and requesting her help with a new demon board. Harper sent Bethany a quick text back, then headed back downstairs to join her family._

* * *

“Where are his arms?” 

Wynonna stood over a man’s armless body that was draped over a rocky outcropping. Ripping off someone’s arms seemed cruel and sadistic, but not exactly demonic. She glanced over at Dolls who had knelt down to get a closer look at the wounds.

“One’s over there,” Nedley pointed straight ahead of them. Then pointing to their left. “One’s over there.” Then to the right. “One’s there.” Then he pointed behind them. “One’s there.”

“I’m not math expert, but that sounds like two more arms than expected,” Wynonna said. She sipped her coffee and squinted over at the arm ahead of them. An officer was photographing it, blocking most of her view, but what she saw appeared pretty normal. Aside from the fact that it wasn’t attached to anything. 

“You think these are from the same person?” Dolls asked, standing up and tucking his note pad in this pocket.

“That would be crazy, Deputy Marshall Dolls,” Nedley said. “The fact that the body appears to have four arm sockets and the arms all look like one set isn’t possible, so that’s obviously not what’s happening. That being said, the case is yours now. Have a good day.”

Nedley walked off and called for his officers to clear the scene for Black Badge. There were a few grumbles about never getting to work the cool cases, but they followed orders and left. Wynonna waited for the officers to leave before pushing the body with her boot to make the wounds more visible. Sure enough, there were two arm joints, one over the other.

“So you think it’s a demon?” Wynonna asked. She noticed some blood on the toe of her boot and tried to wipe it off on a rock.

“Seems likely,” Dolls said, pulling out his phone. “Jeremy, we need you to pick up a body.”

Dolls wandered off to look at the arms, describing what he was seeing to Jeremy. Wynonna hung back by the body. She knelt down beside the body. Wynonna didn’t really know what she was looking at, so she stuck a pen into one of the wounds.

Suddenly, the eyes on the body shot open. Wynonna yelped in shock and leapt back, falling backwards onto the ground. The body sat up and looked around for a moment, slowly realizing his armless state. It staggered to its feet and ran off into the woods behind them.

“Hey wait!” Wynonna yelled, scrambling up to her feet. “Fuck, get back here!”

“Earp?” Dolls asked as Wynonna sprinted off into the woods. 

Wynonna didn’t expect an armless corpse to be so fast, but it easily outran her. Not wanting to get lost in strange woods, she gave up after a short distance. On the walk back to the crime scene, Wynonna tried to see if the body had left any trail, but nothing caught her attention.

“What the hell, Earp?” Dolls asked, now standing where the body had been. “How did you lose our body?”

“Fun fact,” Wynonna said. “It wasn’t dead!”

“Well, where did it go?” 

“That way,” Wynonna said, pointing back at the woods. “At least we still have the arms.”

Wynonna shrugged while Dolls got Jeremy back on the phone to tell him he just be picking up some arms.

* * *

Harper was neck deep in census records from both Canada and the US trying to narrow down the list of James Millers. There were literally millions of them, so it wasn’t an easy task. She tried to get Doc to give her an age range, but he said he couldn’t remember anything other than the fact Jimmy was young. 

As she was beginning to fantasize about shaving off Doc’s moustache in revenge, Jeremy, Wynonna and Dolls returned from the field. Jeremy and Wynonna each had a trash bag while Dolls was carrying two. A strange smell was emanating from the bags making Harper gag.

“How goes it here?” Wynonna said, dumping her bag on the table in front of Harper. The opened slightly, hitting them all with an overwhelming stench.

“Sorry,” Jeremy said. He set his bag down at his work station then came back to seal up the other bag. “The heat is stuck on in my car which made these bad boys extra pungent.”

“What are those?” Harper asked, blinking furiously trying to stop her eyes from watering.

“Arms,” Wynonna said. She held her hand in front of her mouth and pinched her nose closed. “Know any demons with four arms?”

“Twenty-seven,” Harper said, counting quickly in her head. Wynonna raised an eyebrow at how fast she answered. “Unless you mean at least four arms, then seventy-five, no, seventy-six.”

“Do you have any non-demon related hobbies?” Wynonna asked.

“I used to play softball,” Harper said. “And mama and I used to watch foreign films together. But other than that, not really.”

Wynonna opened her mouth to undoubtedly make a joke about that, Dolls stepped in. “How many demons do you know that have exactly four arms and look human?”

“Six,” Harper said. Then she thought for another moment, “Was it male or female?”

“Looked like a dude to me,” Wynonna said, glancing over at Dolls who nodded his agreement.

“Then five,” Harper said. “There’s an all female species, so we can rule them out.”

“Any of them zombies?” Wynonna asked.

“No?” Harper said, looking at Wynonna confused. “Can you explain?”

“It had its arms ripped off and looked dead, but then it got up and ran into the woods,” Wynonna said. 

“I don’t know any species that can resurrect.” Harper shook her head. “If I examine the arms, I might be able to tell you more. And we should definitely check with Waverly.”

Jeremy tore open one of the bags and everyone in the room recoiled. 

“What if you took those to the morgue, buddy?” Wynonna said. Jeremy nodded and rebagged the arm he opened. 

“Take lots of pictures,” Harper said, fighting off the urge to vomit.

“You’re not coming with me?” Jeremy said. He looked bummed until Harper started gagging again. “Maybe it’s better you don’t.”

Jeremy scooped up all the arms and staggered to the door, dropping two of them when he tried to get the door. Dolls opened the door then picked up the two arms and followed Jeremy to the morgue.

“Pie!” Harper shouted suddenly.

“You want pie after that?” Wynonna asked, startled. 

“No,” Harper said, feeling even more ill just thinking about it. “Pie is another hobby of mine. If you count loving pie a hobby.”

“I absolutely do,” Wynonna said, looking pleased with Harper. “How goes finding Doc’s hat?”

“Honestly,” Harper said. She looked down at the laptop screen with the obscene numbers of James Millers. “He might as well of said he gave it to a white guy.”

“So needle in a haystack.” Wynonna nodded.

“And me without a magnet,” Harper said.

“What?” Wynonna looked at Harper with a baffled look on her face.

“If you are looking for a needle in a haystack, you use a magnet cause the needle will stick to the magnet,” Harper explained awkwardly. “So I meant like a metaphorical magnet that could help me dig out what I was looking for.”

Wynonna stared at her silently.

“Want some pie?” Harper asked, getting out of her seat. “On second thought, I could really go for some pie.”

“Good idea,” Wynonna said. “We’ll get pie then swing by the Homestead and see if Waverly knows anything about undead four-armed demons. Or magnets.”

“It was a metaphor,” Harper said.

“Of course it was,” Wynonna said, patting Harper on the back. They headed out while Harper tried to explain herself again, Wynonna completely ignoring her.

* * *

Waverly was woken up by the sound of voices and laughter downstairs. She laid with her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of Nicole’s chest rising and falling under her head. Tracing her fingers around the edges of Nicole’s bandage, Waverly felt Nicole begin to stir.

“What time is it?” Nicole said, then kissed Waverly’s forehead.

“I have no idea,” Waverly said, finally opening her eyes. It had grown dark and Waverly realized they had been sleeping much longer than she had intended. “I think Wynonna and Harper are home.”

“Sounds like they’re getting along. That’s nice,” Nicole said. She used her good arm to hug Waverly a little closer. “But I don’t want to get up yet.”

Nicole’s stomach grumbled making Waverly giggle. “I think your tummy has other plans.”

Waverly gave Nicole a quick kiss then got up and helped Nicole out of bed. They headed downstairs and found Harper and Wynonna sitting in the kitchen. A half eaten pie sat between the two of them as they talked, each with a fork in their hand. 

“Oh hey, the sleeping beauties are finally gracing us with their presence,” Wynonna said, winking at them. “Grab some forks, it’s blueberry, which Harper has informed me is Nicole’s favorite, so you should you get it while it’s Haught.”

“And there it is,” Nicole said, taking the fork Wynonna was holding out for her.

“What were you guys talking about?” Waverly said taking a seat before digging into the pie.

“I was filling Wynonna in on the various humanoid four armed demons,” Harper said. “Then we were arguing about whether centaurs are four armed or four legged. I said four legged, because that’s obviously the correct answer.”

“No, they are four armed because the horse has two legs and two arms,” Wynonna said, gesturing with her fork and getting pie all over the table.

“I can’t even argue with that,” Harper said. “Because it’s just wrong.”

“Back me up, Nicole,” Wynonna said, nudging Nicole with her elbow. Nicole already wasn’t used to eating with her left hand, so Wynonna jostling her made her drop a forkful of pie on the floor.

“I will not,” Nicole said, trying for another piece. “Not because you made me drop my pie, but because you are completely wrong.”

“Baby girl?” Wynonna said, turning to Waverly.

“Sorry, Wynonna,” Waverly said, shrugging. “But horses have four legs.”

“This is some mothers-daughter team up bullshit,” Wynonna said. 

She tossed her fork into the tin and pouted. The other women exchanged glances, then Harper cleared her throat and stood up. 

“I’m going to get my bag out of Waverly’s car and move back into my room, if that’s OK?” 

“Of course it is,” Waverly said, smiling at Harper. “Do you need any help?”

“I one exactly one duffel bag’s worth of stuff,” Harper said. “So no.”

“I’m going with you anyway,” Waverly said, hopping up from the table. 

Harper laughed and shook her head, walking out to the jeep. Waverly skipped along beside her, hurrying ahead of Harper to open the door for her. Harper reached to pull her bag from the jeep, but it wouldn’t come loose. She tugged a few times, pulling harder each time. When the bag finally came free, she stumbled and fell back on the ground. Waverly scooped up the bag and offered Harper her hand.

“Good thing I’m here,” Waverly said as she pulled Harper to her feet.

“Cause I cannot stand up on my own,” Harper said, taking the bag back from Waverly who stuck her tongue out at Harper. Hoisting the bag up, a few items fell on the ground.

“Shit,” Harper said, examining the bottom of her bag. “The bag’s ripped.”

She bent down and picked up the clothes that had fallen on the ground, shaking the dirt out before shoving them back in the bag. Waverly leaned into the jeep to see if anything had fallen in the trunk. She found a t-shirt balled up under the seat and tugged it loose. Waverly turned to give it to Harper, but she had already walked back to the house.

Waverly shrugged and shook out the shirt, something hit the ground with a thud. Looking at the shirt, Waverly noticed that it was much too small for Harper. She neatly folded it back up then bent down and picked up a small black box. Waverly glanced back at the house and saw that Harper had gone inside, so she popped open the box and found a small diamond ring. Folded in the the lid of the box was a picture. Waverly couldn’t resist the temptation and unfolded it.

Harper, looking roughly the same age, smiled at the camera, one arm outstretched to take the picture. Next to her, a small blonde woman kissed her cheek, cupping the other cheek with her hand. They were sitting on top of a Ferris wheel, the stars of the Purgatory night sky dotting the background. 

Waverly folded the picture and shoved it back in the box. She tucked the box into her pocket and shoved the t-shirt under her shirt. Hurrying inside, Waverly shot past the kitchen and ran up the stairs into her room. She pulled the shirt back out, laying it out on the bed and then set the ring box on top of it.

Nicole knocked softly as she stepped into the room. “Everything OK, baby?”

Waverly grabbed her hand, pulling her into the room and shutting the door. Nicole looked at her with concern, but waited for Waverly to explain herself. Waverly listened at the door for a minute. When she was satisfied no one was listening, she walked back over to the bed and pointed at the shirt and ring box.

“What is that?” Nicole asked, picking it up and opening it. “Is that an engagement ring? Where did you get this?”

“It fell out of Harper’s bag. Look at the picture.”

Nicole opened it and frowned. “Who is that?”

“I have no idea,” Waverly said, glancing over at the door. “Harper never mentioned leaving anyone other than family.”

“If she still has the ring,” Nicole said, putting the picture back. “Then maybe they weren’t together so she didn’t think of it as leaving her behind?”

“She brought the fucking ring with her,” Waverly said, snatching the box from Nicole. “I definitely think that means she counts it as leaving her behind.”

“Well, what do we do?” Nicole asked. 

“We figure out who this is,” Waverly said, pointing at the box. There was a knock on the door so Waverly quickly hid everything then said, “Come in!”

“Hey,” Harper said, poking her head into the room. “Jeremy called and said he emailed the autopsy photos but I really need to get some sleep. Since you guys kinda took the day off, think you could take a look?”

“Absolutely,” Waverly said.

“Definitely,” Nicole added.

“Everything OK?” Harper asked. “You two seem a little weird.”

“No, we’re fine,” Nicole said.

“Top of our game and ready to go,” Waverly said, throwing up some finger guns.

“OK, well, I’m going to bed now,” Harper said, furrowing her brow. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Nicole and Waverly bid her a good night and waited for her to leave before turning back to each other.

“We can’t act weird about this,” Nicole said.

“I’m not acting weird,” Waverly whispered. “I’m just freaking out that our daughter left a whole life behind and will spend the rest of her life broken hearted. Now let’s go look at a dead body.”

Waverly hurried out of the room leaving Nicole standing alone in the room a little dumbfounded.

* * *

The gang huddled around the kitchen table going over the pictures Jeremy had sent. Waverly and Nicole had managed to rule out three of the species Harper had listed, but they still weren’t sure what it was. Harper had taken a break from staring at severed arms to dig through more census records. James Miller had ceased to even look like a name anymore. Now it just seemed like a jumble of letters swimming in front of her eyes.

“Cave troll!” Waverly shouted, throwing her pen down on the table in triumph. Harper groaned and dropped her head down on the table.

“How did I not see that?” Harper said.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, kiddo,” Wynonna said, clapping Harper on the back. “You came up with a really good list.”

“That didn’t have a damn cave troll on it,” Harper mumbled. “It’s so obvious. They take on the form of the species attacking them and can slow their heart rate to appear dead for several hours. I’m such an idiot.” 

“Wait, it looks like whatever attacked it?” Wynonna asked, looking over at Waverly. “So we just need to find the dude that looks like the not-dead dude.”

“Not exactly,” Waverly said. She took Harper’s shoulder and forced her upright. Harper pouted but stayed up. “It looks like whatever species attacked it. So since it looked human, it was attacked by a human.”

“Do we really need to be investigating a human trying to kill a cave troll?” Nicole asked. She picked up one of the autopsy photos taking another look.

“The way the arms were positioned,” Waverly said, handing Nicole a crime scene photo. “Like the four points of the compass? Makes me think ritual or spell of some kind.”

“Humans doing rituals involving a cave troll?” Nicole asked. “Are you thinking cult?”

Waverly bit her lip and nodded. Wynonna leaned over the table and snatched the picture from Nicole. 

“Why can’t it ever just be a good demon killing Samaritan?” Wynonna asked.

“If it’s the cult,” Harper said slowly, thinking about what Waverly had said. “And they needed troll bits for their ritual, wouldn’t you think they might try to get the troll bits back?”

“We should go to the morgue,” Wynonna said, standing up. Everyone else stood and walked out of the house. On the way to the cars, Wynonna stopped and looked at Nicole, who still had a slight limp and an arm in a sling. “Shouldn’t you stay here, Haught stuff?”

“I am not staying here and I am not having this argument,” Nicole said. She walked past Wynonna and climbed into the passenger side of Waverly’s jeep. Wynonna shrugged and climbed into the backseat.

When they reached the morgue, Wynonna hurried inside, tripping just inside the door. She landed on her face and slowly dragged herself back up. Looking down at her feet, she saw Jeremy laying face down on the floor, unconscious.

“Shit,” Wynonna said, quickly rolling him over and checking for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of release when she found his pulse strong and steady.

“What’s going on?” Harper said, coming down the stairs. “I heard a thud.”

“Someone’s been here,” Wynonna said, standing up. Harper suddenly realized Jeremy was on the floor and she dropped down to check on him. “Waverly, Nicole! Jeremy needs you guys.”

Waverly sprinted down the stairs with Nicole hobbling behind her. Harper lifted Jeremy up and Waverly swooped in under his arm. Nicole took his other arm from Harper and she and Waverly began the trip back up the stairs. Harper started into the morgue, but Wynonna grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

“We need to be careful,” Wynonna said. “I’ll head back towards the fridges, you go around the other way. We’ll meet in the middle.”

Wynonna set off to the right, leaving Harper to take the left. Harper lifted her gun and slowly walked through the main area into the hall that led back to the examination room. As she approached, she heard the sounds of plastic being torn and slowed down even further. She took a deep breath then peered around the corner. 

A short brunette woman wearing a lab coat over street clothes was tearing opening the bags the arms were wrapped in. Harper eased closer, steadying her gun.

“Arms up,” Harper said, pointing her gun at the woman. She jumped, holding up her arms and a severed arm she had dug out from one of the bags.

“No, drop the arm,” Harper tried again. The woman looked confused, but slowly put her arms back down at her side.

“No, I mean, drop the troll arm and put your hands-” Harper sighed. “You know what, never mind.”

“This isn’t what it looks like,” the woman said, looking around at the scene around her. 

“You’re not stealing body parts from a morgue?” Harper asked, keeping her gun trained on the woman.

“OK, so it is what it looks like,” the woman agreed. “But I’m one of the good guys, I swear.”

“What do you mean, good guys?” Harper pressed.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” the woman said.

“Try me.”

“Alright,” the woman said, taking a deep breath. “I’m a witch and I was walking through the woods when I came across some cultists doing a ritual on a cave troll so I scared them off and now I’m here to figure what they were doing and prevent them from trying it again.”

Harper looked into the woman’s eyes, searching for any sense that she was lying.

“How’d you stop them?” Harper asked. 

“Simple illusion spell,” the woman said. “Most people are smart enough to run from bears.”

“What were you doing all the way out there?” 

“Gathering plants for my spells.”

“What plants?”

“Ceratodon moss.”

Harper narrowed her eyes. She knew that was a moss that grew between rocks like the ones the troll was found on and she had heard of it being used in spells and rituals.

“How can I know you’re not in the cult and this is a ruse to get me to trust you?”

“I mean, I didn’t kill that guy by the door, I’m answering all your questions and I’m not wearing a black cloak.”

Harper thought for a moment. There was no way she could be one hundred percent certain this woman wasn’t a cultist, but Harper didn’t sense she was lying. Harper lowered her gun, deciding to trust the woman, for now.

“Yeah, that checks out,” Harper said. The woman looked at her completely shocked. “My story is far weirder, trust me.”

“Hands up!” Wynonna shouted as she came into the lab from the other hall. 

“No, it’s alright,” Harper said. “She’s a witch who stopped the cultists’ ritual.”

“And you just believed that?” Wynonna asked, glaring at her.

“I’m really getting the sense that you have trust issues,” Harper said.

“Really?” Wynonna said. “I wonder why that could be.”

“What’s your name?” Harper asked the woman who had been glancing nervous between Wynonna and Harper.

“Sarah Miller,” the woman said. “Tin witch at your service.” 

“Sarah Miller?” Wynonna said, lowering Peacemaker and looking over at Harper. “That's a name so witchy it sounds like she should’ve burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials.”

“Uh, thanks?” Sarah said. As Wynonna put Peacemaker away, Sarah caught a glimpse of the gun. “Oh my goodness, is that Peacemaker? Are you Wynonna Earp?”

“Yeah,” Wynonna said. “Why?”

“I am a huge fan of your work,” Sarah said, stepping towards Wynonna. “I hear you buried the Stone Witch up to her neck in the salt flats. That was a stroke of genius.”

“Well thank you,” Wynonna said, standing up a little straighter. “I was pretty proud of that.”

“We should probably do something with these arms and work on figuring out what the cultists were doing,” Harper said. “And did you say you knocked out our friend?”

“Oh, it was just a little sleeping powder,” Sarah said. “I would never hurt an innocent person. I swear.”

“Alright, Harper, take Goody Miller upstairs to fix Jeremy and get everything she knows,” Wynonna said. “I’ll stay down here with the arms. Send Waverly down to help me.”

Harper walked over to Sarah and took her by the elbow. She was willing to believe Sarah, but she wasn’t going to be stupid about it. Sarah walked with her without struggling, allowing herself to be led into the Black Badge office. 

Waverly and Nicole were standing over Jeremy, who they had laid down on the center table. They jumped and turned to see Harper leading Sarah into the room, looking to Harper for explanation.

“This is Sarah. She’s a witch who stopped the cultists and is very sorry about knocking Jeremy out,” Harper said.

“Well, I didn’t say that last thing,” Sarah said. The other women gave her disapproving looks. “I’m going to wake him up.”

Sarah walked over to Jeremy, Harper close on her heels, and pulled a few pouches out of her pocket. She held them up, examining each one. Then, carefully selecting one, she opened it and and dropped a pinch of dust onto Jeremy’s face. He sat bolt upright and looked around the room panicking.

“Someone’s after the arms!” He yelled. Then he saw Sarah. “Ah! She’s after the arms!”

“I was trying to protect them,” Sarah said. “Unless you want cultists doing lord knows what with cave troll arms.”

“About that,” Harper said, pulling out a chair and indicating that Sarah should sit. “We’re gonna need you to tell us everything you know.”

“How do we know she’s not a cultist?” Nicole asked.

“Am I the only one who trusts people in this family?” Harper asked. 

“Yes,” Nicole and Waverly said at the same time.

“How about we listen to what she has to say which doesn’t require us to trust her,” Harper said. “We’ll keep an eye on her, not let her see anything or go near the arms.”

“Fine,” Waverly said, spinning their research board around. “But I’m not taking my eyes off her.”

“Actually,” Harper said. “Wynonna needs you downstairs to help with the arms.”

“Alright,” Waverly said. “Then Nicole won’t take her eyes off her.”

Waverly glared at Sarah, then turned and left to go help Wynonna. Nicole took a seat at the end of the table, fixing her gaze on Sarah.

“Ok,” Harper said. “Tell us everything you saw.”

* * *

Sarah was grumpy but cooperative. Harper and Nicole questioned her about the cult and what they were doing and Sarah answered. Nicole pressed her on details, often doubling back to previously asked questions to check for consistency. Sarah answered them all, never fumbling over details. 

When the evening rolled around, they needed to decide what to do about Sarah and Dolls offered to keep her in the Black Badge cell. Sarah was not pleased with that development, but not seeing any other option, she eventually walked herself into the cell and dropped down on the floor, sitting cross-legged and scowling out at everyone. Dolls decided to stay and watch her, letting everyone else go home. 

“What’d she have to say?” Wynonna asked, rooting through the Homestead cabinets for her snack jars. Harper reached over her head and pulled out a jar of M&Ms then sat down at the table.

“She described the ritual, but I haven’t had any luck finding it in any of our books,” Harper said, shoving a handful of M&Ms into her mouth.

“Maybe that means she’s lying,” Waverly said, popping a few M&Ms into her mouth.

Nicole shook her head. “I believe her. We spent all day asking her questions. Her story made sense and I just didn’t get the feeling she was lying.”

“Maybe our best bet is to track down the troll,” Wynonna said, taking the jar of candy from Harper, she grabbed a handful of M&Ms then stood up. “Let’s go.”

“You want to hunt a cave troll in the middle of the woods at night in Purgatory?” Waverly asked.

“What, I have two Peacemakers now. I am unstoppable.”

“How about we go first thing in the morning?” Waverly offered. “Then Nicole can watch the witch and the rest of us can go troll hunting.”

“Why do I have to watch her?” Nicole said, frowning at Waverly.

“Sweetie, if you think I’m letting you traipse through the woods looking for a troll with a limp and your arm in a sling, you are out of your mind.”

Nicole thought about protesting for a second, but then conceded with a nod of her head. Harper stood up and stretched, stifling a yawn.

“I’m going to go to bed now,” she said. “Don’t go troll hunting without me.”

They said their goodnights, then Harper headed up stairs. Her belongings had been dumped into a pile in the middle of the room because she’d been too tired to put them away. Harper looked at the pile and sighed, deciding she should do it now or it would never get done. She put her things away, but noticed something was missing.

“Waverly,” Harper called out as she stepped into the hall. “I can’t find my brush so I’m going to borrow yours. I assume it’s in the same place it always is.”

Harper walked into Waverly’s room without waiting for an answer. She opened the drawer where Waverly had always kept her brush when she heard footsteps sprinting up the stairs. Ignoring Waverly’s cries that she would get it, Harper reached out and picked up a small black box.

“Where did you get this?” Harper asked, slowly turning to the door where Waverly now stood. Waverly was speechless as Nicole came up behind her.

“It’s mine,” Nicole said, reaching out and taking the box. Harper immediately snatched it back.

“No it’s fucking not,” Harper snapped. “Were you going through my shit?”

“No,” Waverly said, looking at Harper with her biggest, saddest eyes. “Absolutely not. It fell out when your bag ripped and you’d already gone back inside.”

“So you picked it up and immediately returned it to me without opening it.” Harper’s voice was sharp, the rage barely contained under her words.

“There’s so much we don’t know about you,” Nicole said. She stepped toward Harper, but Harper stepped back. “And you only ever talk about leaving the family.”

“Because my family is the only thing I left behind,” Harper said, her voice cracking a little as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Clearly not,” Waverly said, pointing at the box. “Who is she?”

“Her name was Bethany and we broke up long before I came here, OK.” Tears began to fall down Harper’s cheeks, but she kept her jaw clenched. 

“It looks like you’re still hurting.” Waverly tried to take Harper’s hand, but Harper wasn’t having it. “Maybe you could tell us what happened?”

“What happened?” Harper said, now on the verge of screaming. “This fucking family happened. I can’t bring someone into all this shit. Demons and revenants trying to murder us every other goddamn day. Wynonna couldn’t break this fucking curse, so you think there’s any way in hell Alice could? And maybe I wasn’t really leaving anything worthwhile behind. Maybe leaving was just easier than staying.”

Harper shoved past them and slammed the door on her way out of the room. Waverly began to cry and Nicole pulled her in close, resting her chin on Waverly’s head. “Shh, baby, it’ll be OK.”

“OK?” Waverly said, leaning back so she could look Nicole in the eye. “She hates us! How is that OK?”

“She doesn’t hate us,” Nicole said. “She’s just mad and needs some time. I once looked at something I shouldn’t have and I was forgiven.”

“You’re really gonna bring that up right now?” Waverly asked, glaring at her.

“All I’m saying is that we all need to take some deep breaths, then we’ll apologize, promise to never violate her privacy again and I’m sure she’ll come around.” Nicole placed Waverly’s head down onto her shoulder and Waverly wrapped her arms tightly around Nicole’s waist. “We all love each other too much not to forgive each other.”

Waverly continued to cry into Nicole’s shoulder as they heard the front door slam shut.

* * *

_This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Nothing was going the way Harper wanted it. She slipped her hand into her pocket and rolled the ring between her thumb and index finger. She thought they had been so close to figuring out how to break the curse. She was waiting for that day, the day she could burst into Bethany’s apartment and ask her to be her wife and they could finally begin the rest of their lives together. Harper had been so certain, she had been carrying the ring around with her for a month. But now, Bulshar had fully risen and he and his followers threatened to tear a hole right through the Ghost River Triangle_

_Harper wondered if she was doing the right thing. She wondered if there was any other way. Harper had been selfish, thinking she could have both parts of her life. She thought she could keep things casual between her and Bethany, that it would be easier, but she didn’t realize how easy falling in love with her was going to be. She finally understood why her mom had chosen to stay in Purgatory. But she also understood that Bethany was no longer safe._

_Harper paced outside of Bethany’s building for nearly thirty minutes before she could screw up the courage to go upstairs. She used her key to open the door, Bethany was in the kitchen, putting a few groceries away._

_“Hey,” Harper said simply._

_Bethany turned and smiled and Harper felt all her resolve slip away. Bethany sprang up on her tiptoes to kiss Harper, but Harper shifted her head. Bethany’s lips caught her cheek and she could tell immediately that something wasn’t right._

_“Hey,” Bethany said softly, running her hand down the back of Harper’s arm and slipping their hands together. “What’s wrong?”_

_Harper cleared her throat. “Can we sit?”_

_Bethany nodded and they sat down on the couch, Harper leaving a little more space than she normally would between them._

_“I think you should take that job.” Harper finally started. “The one in Vancouver. The one you think I don’t know about.”_

_“I was never planning on accepting that offer,” Bethany said, crossing her arms._

_“That’s not the only thing. There’s no easy way for me to say this, so I’m just going to say it.” Harper looked down at her hands. There was no way she would be able to look at Bethany while she ripped both their hearts out._

_“It’s OK, just tell me,” Bethany said. Her voice was kind and gentle and it made Harper hate herself just a little more._

_“I’ve been cheating on you,” Harper lied. “I think we should stop seeing each other.”_

_Bethany just stared at Harper, words failing her._

_“What?” Bethany’s voice was little more than a pained whisper. “I...I don’t understand.”_

_Harper didn’t know what else to say, she hadn’t thought much past this point. She could see the tears in Bethany’s eyes start to form and Harper felt her heart breaking into pieces. She almost hoped Bethany would scream and yell, so that Harper wouldn’t have to explain herself anymore, as if she truly could._

_“I know there are parts of your life you’re not able to share with me, but I have never asked you to. I’ve never asked you for more than you’ve been willing to give. I love you, Harper.” Bethany cried. She tried to take Harper’s hands again, but Harper pulled away._

_“I’m sorry, but I don’t feel the same way anymore,” Harper lied again._

_“Then get out.” Her voice was calm and detached and it cut Harper to her core._

_Harper hung her head, this was what she wanted, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. She drove back to the Homestead and got into bed, trying to will away the aching in her chest. She almost wished Bulshar would come and put an end to her pain._

_Days passed, her heartbreak still sharp like an open wound, but Harper couldn’t help herself. She took the long way to the police station in the mornings to pass by Bethany’s apartment. By the end of the month, she saw Bethany carrying a box out to the street. Harper forced herself to watch while Bethany cried, packing her belongings into her car._

_Bethany was devastated, but mostly confused, that someone as sweet and loving as Harper would ever crush her heart so profoundly. Harper tamped down her feelings deep inside, trying to keep herself breathing even though her own heart was broken beyond repair. Even so, Harper refused to shed a single tear, knowing if she started crying, she might never stop. She kept telling herself this was the way it had to be, but it didn’t even come close to making her feel any better about what she had done. Demons had done a lot of damage to the Ghost River Triangle, but Harper felt like she was responsible for destroying the one perfect thing in Purgatory._

* * *

Harper was so angry she walked all the way to the police station. She hadn’t even meant to go there, her feet just took her there. Her rage burned in her chest and at times she found it hard to breathe. Harper couldn’t believe they would go behind her back like that and rip open old wounds. She’d shared so much with them and yet they still didn’t trust her.

Not knowing what else to do, Harper went into the police station. The lights were off and it was dark except for a glow coming from the Black Badge office where Dolls was watching Sarah. Harper followed the light and went to join Dolls. He was surprised to see her, but smiled warmly. She’d never been terribly close with him, but he was always nice to her and made sure to keep his fire-breathing far away from her.

“I’ll take over,” Harper said, sitting on top of the table and crossing her legs.

“Are you sure?” He asked, looking between her and the dozing Sarah.

“Yeah,” Harper nodded. “Wynonna’s organizing a troll hunt in the morning so you should rest up.”

“What about you?” 

“I’m not going.”

Dolls looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it. He thanked Harper then left her alone with their captive. Sarah slept on, Harper’s anger at her family keeping her wide awake. But eventually, as the morning light began to fill the office, Harper felt her eyes drooping. They had barely closed when Sarah spoke up.

“Change of the guard?”

“Guess so,” Harper said, shaking herself a bit to stay awake.

“Since we’re both stuck here with nothing to do, maybe we can get to know each other a little bit,” Sarah said, sliding forward in her cell so her knees touched the glass. Harper remained silent. “Or not. That’s fine too.”

Sarah laid back on the floor, stretching her arms above her head. She traced her fingers across the floor and muttered a few words under her breath. After a moment, the floor lit up like an old disco dance floor.

“I’ve never heard of a Tin Witch,” Harper said, watching the bright blocks of light change colors. Sarah sat back up and smiled.

“It’s not technically a type of witch,” Sarah said. “It’s more a type of failure. See they call those of us who lack true power that because our magic is thin as tin.”

“You managed to take on a whole group of cultists by yourself,” Harper said. “That sounds like it would take some power.”

“It was nothing, cultists spook easy.” Sarah traced some unseen image in the air, again saying words under her breath, and a large grizzly bear appeared in the cell beside her. Harper jumped out of surprise, making Sarah laugh. She reached out and put a hand through the bear, waving it around a bit until the bear dissipated. “My mother’s a Bronze Witch and the shit she can do, whew, makes grown men piss themselves and cry for their mothers.”

Harper frowned and poked her tongue out between her lips, thinking. After a moment, she said, “Are we going to have to worry about a coven of witches descending on us to rescue you?”

“Ha! Fat chance,” Sarah said, laughing. “When it became clear I lacked my mother’s abilities, she not so politely asked me to find my own way in the world.”

“That’s not very motherly,” Harper said, seeing the twinge of sadness behind Sarah’s laugh.

“Yeah, well, my family kind of sucks,” Sarah said, leaning back on her hands. “Way too busy wandering the world fighting against the forces of evil to bother being compassionate for their useless daughter. What about you? I’m guessing the other towering ginger is your sister?”

“No,” Harper said, shaking her head. “Nicole is not my sister.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, smiling knowingly. “You’re her illegitimate half-sister.”

“I’m not illegitimate,” Harper snapped. The only time she’d gotten in trouble at school had been the time she slapped Jimmy Hardy across the face for saying that two women couldn’t have a baby so she was illegitimate. She’d been sent home and, after Waverly had screamed at the principal for half an hour, her moms had taken her out for ice cream.

“Touched a nerve. I’m sorry,” Sarah said, looking genuinely apologetic. “So what’s your story then? Those people are clearly your family and you said your story was weirder than mine, so I’m all ears.”

“You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

“I’m from the future where Wynonna failed to break the curse and demons were running wild through the world so I jumped through a time portal and Nicole and Waverly, the short brunette you met early, are my mothers and Wynonna is my aunt and I’m here to break the family curse.” Harper looked down at Sarah who just nodded.

“I’ve heard weirder,” she said. Harper looked at her skeptically. “What, you’re not the first person in the history of the universe to use a time portal.”

“Have you used a time portal?”

“No.”

“Have you met someone who used a time portal?”

“Before now? No.” Sarah stood up to be closer to Harper’s eye level. “I come from a long line of witches and demon hunters. The Millers have weird stories for days.”

Harper furrowed her brow in thought. “Are you related to a James or Jimmy Miller?”

“Yeah, about twenty,” Sarah said. 

“OK, are you related to one who could possibly have crossed paths with Doc Holliday?” Harper asked. It might have been a long shot, but she had nothing else to work with.

“Ugh,” Sarah rolled her eyes. “My great-grandfather used to insist that he helped out at the inn where Holliday died. Swore up and down that his shitty old hat was placed on his head by Doc Holliday himself.”

“Uh huh,” Harper said, leaning forward. “And do you have any idea where this hat is now?”

“Why? It’s a really crappy old hat,” Sarah said. Harper gave her a pleading look and Sarah sighed. “Yeah, I do. I sold it at the flea market two towns over last week. I needed lunch and some hat vendor bought it off me for five bucks.”

Harper pulled out her phone and called Waverly, who answered the phone with a flurry of apologies.

“Not now,” Harper said. “I know where Doc’s hat is. You need to go with Doc to the that big flea market in Black Diamond.”

“I can’t,” Waverly said. “I’m in the middle of a troll hunt. You go.”

“I can’t either,” Harper said. “I’m guarding Sarah. Where’s Nicole?”

“On her way to the station.” 

Harper hung up and dialed Nicole.

“Oh thank god, we are so sorry times-”

“You need to pick up Doc and take him to the Black Diamond flea market,” Harper said cutting her off. “His hat is there.”

She hung up on Nicole before she could ask any questions and called Doc.

“Hello?” Doc asked. He always sounded confused when he talked on the phone.

“Doc, it’s Harper. Nicole is on her way to get you. Your hat is at the Black Diamond flea market. You need to find it.”

* * *

The drive over to the flea market was awkward to say the least. Nicole and Doc never really spent any time alone together and Nicole was too busy worrying about Harper to make conversation. Doc sat in the passenger seat watching the scenery go by when he decided to try again.

“Something seems to be bothering you, Officer Haught.”

“It’s nothing,” Nicole said. Before Doc could protest, Nicole kept talking. “Waverly and I found an engagement ring and a picture of Harper with some girl and when Harper found out, she got really mad and stormed off and Waverly thinks Harper will never forgive us and I’m worried Harper doesn’t think she can talk to us about things because we’re not her real family, but we are her real family and I don’t know what to do.”

“In my experience,” Doc said, looking over at Nicole who was gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. “It is easier to forgive someone than to travel back in time through a time portal for them.”

Nicole glanced over at him with a look of confusion on her face.

“What I’m saying is that Harper will forgive you,” Doc clarified. “I don’t know if it’s possible for a girl to love her family more than that girl loves all of you. You raised a truly remarkable young woman.”

Nicole nodded, making the turn into the flea market parking lot. She’d spent the whole night comforting Waverly trying not to think about scared she was. Comforting Waverly was easier than thinking about it. She certainly hadn’t planned on talking to Doc about it, but she found herself glad she did. 

They parked in front of a large run-down one story building. People came and went from the building with all manner of items. Nicole and Doc headed in, weaving their way through the crowd. After nearly half an hour of searching, they found a hat seller tucked in the far back corner. 

“There it is,” Doc said, pointing to an old worn out black hat. Nicole nodded and got the seller’s attention.

“Excuse me, how much for that hat?” Nicole asked.

“Ten dollars,” the man said, grabbing the hat off the rack.

“Ten dollars?” Doc said. He leaned closer to Nicole and mumbled, “I do not know whether to be more offended that I have to pay for my own hat or that it is only ten dollars.”

Nicole ignored him and checked her wallet. “Damn it, I only have eight.”

The seller looked at them, then sighed. “I’ll take eight for it.”

“Great,” Nicole said, handing over the money. She took the hat and thanked the man, heading back out to the parking lot. Pulling out her phone, she called Harper. “Hey, we got the hat.”

“That’s great. Could you hurry back here?” Harper said in a strained tone before a loud crash sounded in the background.

“What’s going on?” Nicole asked, climbing into the car and gesturing for Doc to hurry up.

“There is a troll in the office and I think everyone else is out of cell service range,” Harper said over the sound of another crash.

“We’re on our way. Are you safe?” Nicole said, turning on the car and pulling out of the parking lot a little faster than she should have.

“For now,” Harper said. “I’ve locked myself in the cell with Sarah.”

“You did what?” 

“The plan was to get the troll in here, but it didn’t work out,” Harper said. “Could you hurry? I think it wants its arms back.”

* * *

Nicole burst into the Black Badge office with her gun raised. The troll was pounding on the glass of the cell, growling and snarling, trying desperately to get inside. Harper stood, calmly staring the creature down, Sarah standing behind her in a panic. Nicole opened fire, hitting the troll directly in the head. It turned to face her, but took another shot to the head and stumbled backwards before falling to the ground. 

Nicole stepped over the body and punched in the code for the cell door. Harper stepped out and hugged Nicole tightly. Sarah slowly walked out of the cell, making sure no one would stop her, then knelt down to look at the troll’s body.

“I’d say I think it’s dead,” Sarah said, examining the two gunshots to the head. “But I thought that last time and I was clearly wrong.”

“Where’s Doc?” Harper said, stepping back from Nicole and looking around the room.

“I sent him to go track down everyone else,” Nicole said, not taking her eyes off Harper. She didn’t think she’d ever been as scared as when she saw a troll bearing down on Harper.

“So you came here to fight a troll by yourself?” Harper asked.

“For you, yeah,” Nicole said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I am so sorry. We worry about you, but that doesn’t mean we can pry into your life like that.”

“The three of us will talk about it later,” Harper said.

“Hey guys,” Sarah said. She had lifted the trolls shirt and was examining his torso. “There are some weird rope burns here. They look magical.”

Harper knelt beside the troll and felt her stomach drop out. She suddenly knew exactly what the cultists had been doing.

“They were doing an advanced scrying spell,” Harper said, looking up at Nicole. “They’re looking for Tipton’s relic. And it’s the lariat. Of course it’s the lariat.”

“Alright, so we just need to get to it first,” Nicole said. “Do you know where it is?”

“No,” Harper said, shaking her head in frustration. “But if we don’t get it before them, then the game is up. It’s all over. I failed.”

“Hey, no,” Nicole put her hand on Harper’s shoulder. “We are going to find it. Sarah interrupted the spell, right? So that should buy us time. Can you help us find it with magic?”

“Oh,” Sarah shuffled her feet. “That’s kind of outside my wheelhouse.”

“Then can you read books and help us research?” Nicole asked.

“You trust me now?” Sarah asked, hopeful.

“You were in a cell with my daughter for over an hour and didn’t try to kill her,” Nicole said. “So, yeah, I guess I trust you. Harper, do you know where to start?”

Harper nodded and walked over to their research board. She spun it around and pointed at Tipton. Several red strings extended from his picture out to other spots on the board.

“Right here.”


	7. Chapter 7

Harper couldn’t remember what her bed felt like. She was sure it was soft and warm, but at that moment, she could not wrap her head around that feeling. The cold of the stone had seeped through her clothes and she couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep. A loud snore told her Wynonna was not having the same problem. 

Giving up, Harper stood up and stretched. It was dark, but the full moon gave off enough light to see their camp. They’d lost the tents the night before and hadn’t managed to find any kind of shelter that day. If they’d had more time, they probably could have made a shelter, but they were more focused on moving quickly than comfortably.

Past the edge of the camp, she saw the small flicker of a fire where Nicole and Waverly sat. Taking a few steadying breaths, she walked over and joined them. They were surprised to see her, but made space on their chosen rock for her to sit. Harper sat next to Waverly, her back to the fire.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Waverly asked, gently placing her hand on Harper’s back. 

“Rocks don’t make a great bed and Wynonna is snoring again,” Harper said, looking back at the sleeping figures in the distance. “You guys can sleep if you want, I’ll take watch.”

“I think we’re OK,” Nicole said. “We’ve got our coffee.”

Nicole offered Harper a cup but she shoot her head. “We’ve been out here for five days and haven’t found the entrance to Tipton’s damn silver mine. We must be looking in the wrong place.”

“We still have another day’s worth of searching and Jeremy and Sarah are looking into other locations,” Nicole said. Harper leaned forward and placed her head between her knees.

“I’m so frustrated,” she said. “I was so sure this was the place that I dragged everyone out here, but we’re getting nowhere and it’s my fault that we’re failing.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Waverly said. “If anything, this is all our fault. We’re the ones who failed so hard you had to travel back in time thirty years.”

They sat in silence, Harper thinking about the past week. She’d spent so much at the Black Badge office researching Tipton that she’d barely spoken to Nicole and Waverly. They hadn’t asked her talk, giving her space. Her anger had subsided and she had meant to talk to them. Bethany was a still painful memory and she’d never even told her mothers the full story of what happened. 

“Bethany and I used to go camping,” Harper said. She felt Waverly tense up next to her. “Well, sort of. We never left the Homestead’s bedrock, to stay safe, you know. Not that she knew that. Beth never minded that I kept secrets, but I always felt bad about it.”

Nicole and Waverly stayed quiet, letting Harper decide what she needed to say.

“I know you want to know everything about me and worry that I’m not OK,” Harper said. “But there are some things I can’t talk about. Not yet. Please trust me when I say I came back here for the family and I don’t regret it. And as much as it hurts, I’m sure I did the right thing with Beth.”

“Can you tell us about her?” Waverly asked, her voice small and hopeful.

“Not tonight,” Harper said, rising to her feet. “But some day.”

Waverly reached out and took Harper’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Harper gave her a quick squeeze back, then wandered off away from the camp. Her mind was off with Bethany, not paying attention to where she was walking, which she quickly regretted as the ground gave way beneath her.

* * *

_When Bethany told Harper she had been accepted to the University of British Columbia, Harper tried to be thrilled for her. She was, mostly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone she knew was moving on. Over the years, they kept in touch, but Harper never expected Bethany to come back to Purgatory. And she certainly never expected Bethany to come back asking Harper out on a date so they could catch up._

_Harper did her best to plan the perfect night, but she second guessed every idea she came up with. Bethany had spent the last four years in the city, meeting new people and trying new things. Harper wasn’t sure how much Bethany had changed or if there was still a place for her in Bethany’s life._

_In the end, she made a reservation at the nicest restaurant in the tri-county area and borrowed one of her mom’s suits. When Harper picked Bethany up at her apartment, she opened the door wearing a beautiful dark blue dress. Her blonde hair was curled and pinned to one side. The sight of her took Harper’s breath away and suddenly, everything felt wrong. She became acutely aware that the cuffs of her trousers and jacket were a little too short and her tie felt like it was choking her. Harper swallowed thickly a couple of times, trying to find her voice._

_“Wow. You look...” Harper ducked her head sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck, words failing her._

_Bethany chuckled and tugged gently on Harper’s tie. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”_

_The night was an unmitigated disaster. Harper could never get comfortable. Their conversation, when not stuck on small talk about the weather or the menu, moved awkwardly in fits and starts. It was all too overwhelming for Harper who finally gave up, leaving her keys and apologies with Bethany, walking back to Purgatory before their entrees arrived._

_Her moms were on the porch when Harper made in back to the Homestead. They were sitting together on the swing Harper had helped her mom hang, her mama tucked snugly into her mom’s side. Nicole had her arm wrapped around Waverly’s shoulders and was leaning in close, whispering something into Waverly’s ear that made her laugh out loud. Harper trudged miserably up the steps, tugging the loose tie from her unbuttoned collar._

_“Harper?” Nicole looked up, surprised to see her daughter. “What are you doing home so early?”_

_Harper didn’t respond, flopping dramatically across both of their laps._

_“Date night went that bad, huh?” Nicole asked while Waverly ran her hand through Harper’s hair._

_“I don’t know what I was thinking. There’s no way Beth would still be interested me.”_

_“God, for a kid with three advanced degrees, you certainly are dumb,” Waverly said._

_“Hey!” Harper whined. “Aren’t you supposed to be comforting me?”_

_“I’m getting there,” Waverly said. “Listen hun, I’m just gonna lay it out there for you, OK? If you think that girl came back here for the scenic vistas and staggeringly high murder per capita, you’re kidding yourself.”_

_“If she’s someone you care about,” Nicole added. “You owe it to yourself, to both of you, to give this a real shot.”_

_Harper groaned. “Shit.” She sat up and dashed upstairs to change clothes and grab a few things she needed. She made her way back to Bethany’s apartment, hoping she wasn’t too late._

_“Harper?” Bethany answered the door, a confused look crossing her face. She too had changed and was now wearing a gray Henley and worn jeans. Harper winced a bit when she noticed Bethany’s eyes looked a little red, like she had been crying. “I honestly didn’t expect to see you again.”_

_“I am so sorry,” Harper apologized. “I had myself convinced that, I don’t know, I wasn’t going to be enough for you anymore.”_

_“That’s stupid,” Bethany said._

_“I know, trust me, you are not the first person to tell me that tonight.” Harper nervously scuffed her shoe against the hallway carpet. “Listen, there are still a few hours left before midnight, so technically, our date isn’t over yet. You think you’d be willing to give me a second chance?"_

_Harper gave Bethany a sheepish smile. Bethany eyed her carefully, tugging her lips to the side._

_“I have ice cream,” Harper said._

_Bethany finally smiled back. “Well, in that case.”_

_Harper took Bethany’s hand and led her back down to the truck, driving them both back to the Homestead where Harper had strung up a sheet against one side of the barn and borrowed a projector from Jeremy to create an impromptu outdoor movie night for the two of them. Harper settled them both into the back of her truck in the nest of blankets she piled into the bed before opening a cooler and pulling out two pints of ice cream._

_“Cookie dough for me and mint chocolate for you.” She handed Bethany the ice cream and a plastic spoon. “I hope that’s still your favorite.”_

_Bethany dug excitedly into her ice cream, taking a large spoonful. “I have to say, this is the best worst second first date I’ve ever been on.”_

_“Again, I’m really sorry for everything.” Harper apologized again._

_“Don’t be. This,” she gestured around herself with her spoon, “is all I wanted. Thank you."_

_She snuggled into Harper’s side. They contentedly watched the movie and Harper felt happier than she had in long time._

_“I met a lot of people,” Bethany said quietly. “But I never met anyone as amazing as you.”_

_Harper bit her bottom lip, she desperately wanted to kiss Bethany again. Harper hadn’t kissed her since the day she left for college and the butterflies in Harper’s stomach made her feel like this would be their first kiss all over again. She moved her head tentatively, hesitating just a bit before pressing their lips together. Bethany tasted sweet and slightly minty. Harper couldn’t stop herself from smiling into their kiss, wondering why she had ever been nervous._

_It was perfect. Or at least it was for a while._

* * *

The pain burned in her back and it took her a second to catch her breath. Harper opened her eyes to blackness and panic set in. She sat up and felt around her to figure out where she was when her hands clasped her flashlight. After a second of fumbling, she managed to turn it on and take a look around. 

Harper found herself in an old mineshaft and looking up, she saw that she hadn’t fallen all that far. She stood up and made a jump to try and grab something to pull herself out, but she fell short. Directing her flashlight’s beam back on the ground, Harper looked to see if any of her supplies were around. Her walkie-talkie had slid across the floor, but appeared unscathed.

“Can anyone hear me?” Harper said into her walkie-talkie. She released the button and listened. When there was no response, she tried again. “Hello? Anyone there?”

“Harper?” Nicole’s voice crackled over the line. “Where are you?”

“I, uh, I sort of accidentally found the mine,” Harper said.

“Harper,” Nicole said. “Did you fall down a mine shaft?”

“Maybe,” Harper said. “I’m fine, though. I’m just not a hundred percent sure which way I went.”

“Hold tight,” Nicole said. “We’ll find you.”

Harper hooked her walkie-talkie onto her pants then went about investigating the tunnel. It was old and partially collapsed, stretching out far beyond the light of her flashlight. She thought about going further into the tunnel, but didn’t want to miss the rescue party. Sitting down below the hole she fell through, she waited.

Eventually, she heard her name being called in the distance. She stood up and yelled back, her voice echoing in the tunnel. The voices grew closer and after several minutes of Marco Polo, beams of light lit up the tunnel from the group’s flashlights.

“Nice going, Haught shot!” Wynonna shouted down at her. Harper heard a soft thud above her head. “Hey, that hurt.”

“Are you OK?” Waverly asked.

“Just a few bruises, I’ll be alright,” Harper assured her. “You guys should get down here so we can search.”

Someone threw a rope down and the party made their way into the mine shaft. Harper moved down the tunnel a bit, walking slowly to not get too far ahead of the group. Waverly caught up to her and pulled her back.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Waverly asked, doing her best to examine Harper in the dark. “You and I can go back to town, have a doctor look at you.”

“I’m fine,” Harper said. “I want to do this.” 

Waverly nodded and let Harper proceed down the tunnel. The walk was tight and progress was slow. It was a good hour before the tunnel opened wide enough for them to walk easily. A few hundred feet after the tunnel widened, they could just make out a light in the distance. Wynonna made her way to the front of the group and took the lead. As they got closer they could hear voices.

“It has to be here,” one panicked voice said. “I don’t understand.”

“Earp better not have been here first,” a deep, growling voice replied. “Or you’re dead.”

When they reached the light, Wynonna peeked around the corner and did a quick scan of the room. Several large burly men in all black rooted through crates that had been strewn across the room. In the middle, a small man cowered, muttering about how it had to be there. Wynonna looked back at her team, checking they were ready, then stepped out into the light.

“Step away from those crates, boys,” she said as she raised both Peacemakers. When the barrels began to glow, a smirk crossed Wynonna’s face. “Oh, you are all about to have a very bad night.”

She opened fire on the room, dropping the large men so quickly they didn’t even have time to lunge at her. Once all she’d taken care of all the revenants around the crates, she stepped forward toward the man in the middle. He shrank away from her as she approached, pointing a Peacemaker right at his head. When the barrel didn’t glow, she cursed.

“I probably shouldn’t shoot him,” Wynonna said, shoving both guns back into her belt. “So what are we going to do with him?”

“Don’t touch me, I have magic!” The man fumbled pulling something out of his pocket and dropped a small pouch on the ground. Wynonna picked it up and looked at it, then handed it off Waverly.

“If he’s got magic, maybe we should take him to see our witch?” Harper said.

“Witch?” The man swallowed hard. “No, I am a servant of Bulshar! You cannot scare me.”

“Witch it is,” Wynonna said grabbing the man and pulling him to his feet.

Nicole handcuffed the man and watched him while they searched the room, verifying the lariat wasn’t there. Once they completed their search, they made their way back through the tunnel, dragging the whining, pleading man behind them.

* * *

“You want me to do what?” Sarah asked. She stood with Harper outside the Black Badge office while Harper nodded to passing officers.

“Could you keep your voice down?” Harper said, pulling Sarah into the break room. “We don’t need you to do much, just scare him a bit.”

“Can’t you guys scare him?” Sarah asked.

“He has some magical knowledge and seemed quite upset at the prospect of meeting a witch,” Harper whispered, really hoping none of the officers could hear her. “You show of some of your spells, he’ll freak out, then we’ll swoop in and get the information.”

“Fine,” Sarah said. “But then you are buying me dinner. A nice one. I’m tired of Black Badge only providing take out.”

“Deal,” Harper said, smiling. She led Sarah back to the office where the man from the tunnel was tied to a chair. Wynonna stood over the man, polishing Peacemaker in the most menacing way she could. “Shall we get started.”

Wynonna stepped to the side and the man’s eyes fell on Sarah. He leaned back in his chair in fear, almost tipping over backwards. She walked forward, moving her hands through the air and saying words in another language, speaking loudly and clearly. Sparks began to fill the air in front of her.

“Wait!” The man screamed. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Please don’t hurt me.”

Sarah looked over her shoulder at Wynonna and Harper who both shrugged. She flicked her fingers, dismissing the spell. Wynonna moved in, casually sitting on the table next to him.

“What are you looking for?” She asked.

“The Tipton relic,” the man said. “The lariat. I thought it was in that mine, but I was wrong.”

“Are you people looking anywhere else?” Harper asked, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“No,” he said. “At least not when I left for the mine. I was certain I was right.”

“What are you going to do when you get it?” Wynonna asked.

“Destroy it,” he said. “There is a ritual that can take the energy of the relics to make Bulshar stronger. Once we destroy them all, he will be unstoppable.”

“How does the ritual work?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Our witch does all the magic.”

“You have your own witch?” Harper asked.

“The witch is the one tracking you,” he said. “The one who found your true identity.”

Suddenly, the man went stiff. His eyes rolled back in his head and foam started pouring from his mouth. Wynonna and Harper rushed to him. Sarah jumped up and began looking around the room. After a few twitches, the man went still.

“What the hell was that?” Wynonna asked, looking back over at Sarah. 

“That was a spell,” Sarah said. “I don’t see anything in here, check his body. It’ll probably be a pouch of small bones and teeth that smells funny.”

Harper searched the body and found a pouch tucked into his belt. She pulled it out and dumped the contents on the table. Several small bones and teeth fell out, all covered in a strange smelling powder.

“They have a Bone Witch,” Sarah said. “This whole thing got a lot scarier.”

“So Bone Witch is bad?” Wynonna said, nodding. “Got it. Now what?”

“We go back to the books,” Harper said. “They don’t have it yet, so we still have a chance.”

“They can hit the books,” Sarah said. She grabbed a trash can and scooped the contents of the pouch into it. “You owe me dinner.”

“Oh, right now,” Harper said. “OK, I’ll need to grab my wallet. Is Shorty’s OK?”

“That’s fine,” Sarah shrugged, walking out of the office. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Harper grabbed her jacket and began digging through the pockets while Wynonna stared at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Wynonna said. “I’m impressed you scored a date in the middle of all this.”

“Wait, what?” Harper said, looking up at Wynonna.

“Dude, she just demanded you take her to dinner,” Wynonna said. Harper looked at the door then back to Wynonna. 

“No, she’s tired of takeout,” Harper said.

“Whatever you say,” Wynonna said. “You go, I’ll update everyone and hit the books.”

Harper headed outside and found Sarah leaning on the side of the building. Sarah smiled when Harper approached. Harper felt her face grow hot, so she ducked her head and motioned for Sarah to follow her to Shorty’s.

* * *

Waverly drummed her pencil on her notebook looking over at her sister. Wynonna had her feet up on the table with a book her lap. She hadn’t turned the page in a while and Waverly got the sense she was dozing off, but then she looked up at Waverly.

“What?” Wynonna asked, shutting her book. “Did you find something?”

“No,” Waverly said. Wynonna shook her head, dropping her book down on the table and picking up another one. “You let Harper go out with that witch who may be a cultist.”

“OK, I didn’t let baby Haught do anything,” Wynonna said, rolling her eyes at Waverly. “She is a grown ass woman and I’m pretty sure no one lets her do things, she does them. Also, if you were so concerned about it, then you shouldn’t have been across the hall flirting with your girlfriend.”

“First of all, she’s baby Haught-Earp,” Waverly said. “Secondly, today is Nicole’s first day back after getting shot and I was making sure everything was going alright.”

“Fascinating,” Wynonna said, turning back to her book. “We need to find this stupid rope before a bunch of crazy cultists, so if you could stop glaring at me and get back to reading.”

Waverly pulled her book closer and went back to reading. After a short while, they heard laughter coming from the hall before the door opened. Sarah walked with Harper behind her and Waverly narrowed her eyes at them.

“Goo all over the kitchen,” Harper said, laughing again.

“OK, OK,” Sarah said. “You win the goo off.”

“That sounds like the least fun game ever,” Wynonna said. Harper came over to the table and sat down next to Waverly, pulling a stack of papers towards herself. Sarah sat next to Harper and took a few pages off the top of her stack. 

“Should we be letting her go through our research?” Waverly asked, still glaring at Sarah. Harper looked over at her, confused.

“She’s been helping us for a week,” Harper said.

“To get closer to us,” Waverly said. “Right after she did some magic, that cultist died. We don’t know she didn’t do it.”

“I trust her, Waverly,” Harper said. “Trust me. It’s time to stop having this argument.”

Waverly shrugged and rolled her eyes then went back to reading. The door swung open and Nicole came sliding into the room. They all turned to look at her.

“We just got a call about some weird satanic ritual happening outside of town,” Nicole said. Waverly, Wynonna and Harper leapt to their feet and grabbed their weapons. They ran out into the hall, but then Harper stopped and turned back into the office. 

“Did you want to come?” Harper asked Sarah, who was still sitting at the table.

“I’m not really a charge into battle type,” Sarah said. “I’ll keep digging just in case. But have fun storming the cultists.”

Harper nodded then ran out of the room to catch up with her family.

* * *

_Alice and Harper sat at the kitchen table at the Homestead, Alice’s GED study books and notes spread around them. Alice’s test was at the end of the month and Harper had spent the past couple of weeks helping her study. They had made their way fairly painlessly through the history and English portions, but had gotten stuck on science._

_“Ugh, this sucks,” Alice groaned, her head hitting the table._

_“Let me try to explain it again.” Harper pulled Alice’s chemistry book toward her. “A chemical formula is an expression which states the number and type of atoms present in a compound.” She pushed the book back to Alice and pointed to a page. “See? So the formula for sucrose is C12H22O11. And what does that mean?”_

_Alice shrugged._

_“Here’s another one. What’s a chemical reaction?” Harper asked._

_“What happens in my stomach after Taco Tuesdays at Shorty’s.”_

_Harper leaned back in her chair. “I can’t help you if you’re not even going to try.”_

_“C’mon, Harper. This clearly isn’t working. I’m way too stupid for this stuff.”_

_Harper slammed the textbook shut. “You’re right.”_

_“Hey!” Alice protested._

_“Not that.” Harper waved Alice off, thinking for a moment. “You know what? I have an idea. Come with me.”_

_Harper led them both outside of the Homestead. She disappeared into the barn for a minute before directing Alice to follow her out to the East field._

_“This should be far enough,” Harper said. “Now, let’s try this again. What is this?” Harper pulled a stick of dynamite out of her jacket pocket._

_“Shit, Harper. Where the fuck did you get dynamite?”_

_“Exactly. This is dynamite.” Harper ignored Alice’s question and continued her lesson. “Do you know how dynamite works?”_

_“Light the fuse and run?” Alice guessed._

_“Not quite. Dynamite contains the chemical substance nitroglycerin which has the chemical formula of C3H5N3O9, meaning?" Harper prompted._

_“Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and…” Alice closed her eyes, thinking. “Nitrogen?”_

_“Exactly.” Harper smiled. “So, the fuse is actually used to detonate a blasting cap inside the dynamite which causes the oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen to combine-”_

_“Which makes a chemical reaction!” Alice cut in._

_“Yeah,” Harper said. “You’ve got it.”_

_“Now what?” Alice asked._

_Harper handed the stick of dynamite to Alice. “Now we light the fuse and run.”_

_Alice dug a lighter out of her jeans pocket, turning her body away from Harper to hide the flame as she lit the fuse. She pitched the dynamite away from where they stood in a high, long arc, watching as it landed on the side of a grassy hill. They laughed at the explosion, jogging back to the Homestead._

* * *

When they arrived at the scene, they found it abandoned. Walking closer, they saw a smoldering altar in the center of a ring of stones. Wynonna pulled out Peacemaker and moved past the circle, searching the nearby area. Nicole headed outside the circle as well, moving the opposite way of Wynonna. Waverly and Harper stood in the circle, looking at the altar.

“Another scrying spell?” Waverly asked, picking up a stick and poking at the pile of ash on the altar.

“Probably,” Harper said, scanning around her. There were four large stones in each of the cardinal directions and smaller stones connecting them. “Shit. We’re falling behind.”

“We’ll have to keep looking,” Waverly said. “We can’t give up.”

“Damn right we’re not giving up,” Wynonna said, coming back into the ring. “I’m not letting these bastards win.”

Wynonna’s phone rang and she answered it.

“Earp, it’s Dolls.”

“Dolls, where have you been?” Wynonna asked, looking over at the rest of her group. They moved closer as she switched the call to speakerphone.

“I was following a lead,” he said. “I’ve found Daniel. Most the cultists have gone out to do some ritual so you need to hurry.”

“Uh, yeah, the cultists have finished their little shindig,” Wynonna said. 

“Then I guess you need to get here faster,” Dolls said. “I’ll send you the address.”

They jumped back into the car and headed off to meet with Dolls. Following the address, they ended up outside a barn, Dolls standing outside waiting for them. They approached him slowly, guns at the ready.

“Should we be standing out in the open like this?” Nicole asked, looking around for any sign of trouble.

“They’re underground,” Dolls said, sliding the barn door open. Two unconscious cloaked figures laid on the ground by a trap door in the floor. “This is a back door.”

“Good work,” Wynonna said, leaning over the opening in the floor. 

There was a ladder leading twenty feet down into a brightly lit tunnel. She climbed onto the ladder and slid down into the tunnel. Pulling out her Peacemakers, she stepped forward. There was a loud click and Wynonna rolled forward out of instinct. Two spikes shot out of the ground where she had been standing. 

“Holy shit, I’m Indiana Jones!” Wynonna yelled back at everyone else who had joined her in the tunnel. Dolls stepped forward between the spikes and slowly examined the hall.

“No wonder there was minimal security,” he said. “The whole place is booby trapped.”

“Heh, boobies,” Wynonna said. Everyone turned to glare at her.

“Follow me,” Dolls said. “Keep alert.”

They picked their way through the tunnel, stepping as softly and carefully as they could. Dolls led them through the winding tunnel until they reached a sharp bend. He gestured for them to wait and peered around the corner. Two guards stood by a closed wooden door. They leaned casually against the wall, chatting, not paying attention. Dolls moved fast, grabbing one and throwing him back towards Wynonna, who immediately clubbed him with Peacemaker. The other crumpled after one well placed punch to the face from Dolls. 

Wynonna stepped over the fallen guard and looked through the slats of the door. On the other side, twenty or so cultists moved around the room. Daniel stood on the far side, barking orders. Wynonna headed back around the corner to the rest of group.

“There’s like twenty of them in there,” Wynonna said. “I think we need to go back for reinforcements.”

“Or,” Dolls said, smiling and pulling back his jacket revealing some dynamite. 

“You are amazing,” Wynonna said, grabbing the dynamite.

“Isn’t this kind of crazy and reckless?” Harper asked, eyeing the dynamite nervously. 

“An Earp, crazy and reckless? Never,” Wynonna scoffed. “But seriously, I’m just going to threaten them with it, it’ll be fine.”

Wynonna gripped the dynamite with one hand, Peacemaker with the other and kicked down the door.

“Stop what you’re doing or I’ll blow you sky high!” Wynonna yelled, holding her dynamite high above her head. 

“Wynonna,” Daniel said, stepping forward. The cultists parted as he walked. “I was not expecting you here. My master wanted to kill you himself, but you know what they say, it’s better to ask forgiveness.”

He reached for a gun at his side, but Wynonna shot first, knocking him to the ground. The cultists pounced and all hell broke loose. Fists were flying everywhere and gunshots filled the air. A cultist lunged at Waverly, but Harper grabbed his cloak, ripping him backwards and falling to the ground with him. Waverly fired a shot over her head, catching another cultist going for Harper. Nicole fired out around them, keeping the cultists from closing in on them while Dolls and Wynonna dealt the cultists at the front of the room.

After a few fierce moments, the fighting was over. Nicole helped Harper to her feet as Wynonna approached Daniel. He was still alive and trying to crawl away. She kicked him hard in the ribs, making her roll over onto his back, gasping for breath.

“We found your scrying spell,” Wynonna said, placing her boot on his chest. “Where’s the lariat?”

“Why would I tell you that?” He snarled.

“I don’t know, do something good with your last breath?” Wynonna said.

“You wouldn’t kill me,” he said, gripping her boot to try and lessen the pressure.

“Buddy, we are so beyond that at this point,” she said, slowly raising Peacemaker. “Where is it?”

“You’ll never find it. You’ve failed.” He laughed. 

Before Wynonna could the trigger, his body was ripped out from under her and she fell back, landing hard on her back and dropping Peacemaker. Looking up she saw his body float in the air for a moment before slamming into the wall. The body then staggered to its feet, its dead eyes staring at them.

“Thank you for delivering yourselves to me,” a woman’s voice came out of Daniel’s body. “It will make it easier to kill you.”

Harper leapt forward, scooping up Peacemaker and running towards the body. The body laughed and raised its hands. As a blast of energy came towards Harper, Wynonna grabbed her foot, sending her crashing to the ground, the energy beam passing through where her body had just been. Wynonna quickly lit the dynamite, threw it, then dragged Harper to her feet and fled. They managed to get through the door right as the blast went off. Wynonna and Harper were flung forward, slamming them into the other three members of the group. When the dust settled, Waverly stood up, brushed herself off then pulled Harper to her feet.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Waverly yelled, backing Harper up into the wall. “You almost got yourself killed!”

“I was just trying to protect everyone,” Harper said.

“Well stop it,” Waverly said, shaking with rage. “That’s not your responsibility.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Wynonna said, pulling her sister away from Harper. “But what the hell was that?”

“I’m guessing that was the Bone Witch,” Harper said. She took a few calming breaths and brushed the dirt off of her. “Sarah said they deal in death.”

“Great,” Wynonna said. “So Daniel is dead, but we still don’t have the lariat and there is a murder witch after us.” 

“Back to the books, then?” Nicole asked, looking around at each of them. Harper nodded then held Peacemaker out. Wynonna snatched it from her and began the walk back down the tunnel.

* * *

_Harper sat on the cold, hard bench of the jail cell. The florescent lights weren’t doing her headache any favors. She pressed her head against the cinder block wall, trying to will away the feeling that her skull was splitting apart. This was bad. Harper knew this was quite possibly the worst situation she had ever found herself in._

_The hall door opened and her mom walked in or, in that moment, it would’ve been more accurate to say Sheriff Haught-Earp walked in. Her mom’s face was stony and impassive, but Harper could see the absolute fiery rage that was burning behind her eyes._

_“Agnes Haught-Earp,” Nicole said. “What in the hell do you think you were doing?”_

_“I was just hanging out with some friends, I swear. I didn’t mean for it to get out of hand,” Harper pleaded._

_“I don’t want to hear any of your excuses.” Nicole put her hand up. “You have no idea how serious this is. Drinkin’ and joyridin’ right into Sonny Davis’ barn? Carl and Jimmy are still at the hospital, it’s a goddamned miracle none of you were killed tonight.”_

_“I’m sorry, mom,” Harper said, tears streaming down her cheeks._

_“But here’s the thing. Deputy Samuels took Carl’s statement at the hospital and he says it was Alice who was driving. And that it was Alice who brought the whisky.” Nicole tipped her hat a bit, giving Harper a stern look. “But when Deputy McLaughlin called the accident in, he says it was you in the driver’s seat, fifth of whisky at your feet, Alice nowhere in sight. Why might that be?”_

_“I don’t know mom,” Harper said quietly. “Carl probably hit his head. Made him confused.”_

_Nicole sighed heavily, taking her Stetson off, dropping the sheriff act. “Harper, I know you’ve taken the heat for Alice before, but this is an entirely different situation. You’re not helping her by getting blamed for this. Just tell me where she is.”_

_Harper swallowed, wiping more tears away. “I’m sorry, mom.”_

_Nicole set the hat back on her head. “Me too. Sonny Davis is insisting on pressing charges. We’re gonna have to arrest you.”_

_The heartbreak in her mom’s voice was worse than anything else that had happened that night._

_“I’ll have Deputy McLaughlin book you and then I’ll take you home. Because this is your first offense and no one was seriously injured, I can probably get you off with some community service.”_

_“Thank you mom,” Harper said._

_“Don’t even think of thanking me. That is just the beginning of your punishment. Your mama is so furious, I’m almost afraid of what she’s gonna do to you.” Nicole turned to leave. “Just sit here and don’t move. Don’t think. Just sit there.”_

_It was well into the early hours of the morning when Nicole finally drove Harper back to the Homestead. Nicole sent Harper directly upstairs to her room, offering her the solitary kindness that whatever angry tirade her mama was planning could wait until later._

_Harper wanted to sleep for a hundred years, but no more than ten minutes passed before her bedroom window popped open and Alice clambered in._

_“Holy fuck,” Alice said, leaning against Harper’s desk. She had a smattering of fresh scratches on one cheek, probably from the broken glass of the shattered truck window. “What a night. How you holding up, jailbird?”_

_Something snapped inside of Harper. She leapt from her bed, grabbing Alice by the collar and slamming her against the wall._

_“Are you kidding me Alice?” Harper seethed. “Where have you been?”_

_“Relax,” Alice pried herself from Harper’s grip. “I don’t know why you're so worked up. I knew your mom wouldn’t let you rot in some cell and clearly, I was right.”_

_“I’m not angry about that.” Harper collapsed back onto her bed. “You could’ve killed yourself.”_

_“So,” Alice said._

_“So?” Harper couldn’t believe she was having this argument. Trying to convince Alice that her life actually meant something. “Alice, I’m begging you, please stop. I can’t keep up with you anymore.”_

_“I never asked you to. I’m not your responsibility.” Alice stalked over to Harper’s closet, grabbing the first clean shirt she saw and changing out of her own torn, bloody shirt._

_“Alice, I know you don’t believe it when your mom says it or my moms say it, but please believe me. You are my family. I care about what happens to you.”_

_Harper realized then that Alice must’ve been exhausted, because she didn’t bother putting up much more of a fight. Her shoulders sagged. “Fine. I’m sorry.”_

_Harper stretched out and rolled over. “I've gotta get some sleep. My mama’s probably gonna kill me tomorrow. You got a place to go?”_

_“Yeah, it’s probably best if I lay low a bit. Maybe wait for Waverly’s temper to subside,” Alice said._

_“Wishful thinking,” Harper snorted._

_“Yeah, probably.” Alice lingered by the open window. “Hey, uh, do you mind if I crash here for a couple of hours?”_

_Harper moved to one side of her bed, pulling back the blankets, but kept her back to Alice. Alice kicked off her shoes and got in next to her._

_“Thank you, by the way,” Alice said. “For tonight. I don’t know anyone else who would’ve taken the fall like that for me.”_

_“You’re welcome.” Harper said to the wall. “Just please don’t make me do it again.”_

* * *

Waverly paced around her room, the events of the day rolling through her mind. Harper had leapt at that thing without a single thought and Waverly was having a hard time getting the image of Harper hitting the ground out of her mind. Now she knew that it was Wynonna saving Harper, but for a split second, Waverly had thought that thing had killed her. 

Nicole came into the room, toweling off her hair. Waverly barely noticed Nicole as she continued to pace. Nicole frowned, tossed her towel by the door and pulled Waverly into a hug. Waverly tried to pull away at first, but in the end, she couldn’t resist Nicole’s arms.

“I’m going to kill her if she ever does anything like that again,” Waverly said.

“I know, baby,” Nicole said, hugging Waverly a little tighter. “But she was trying to protect her family. If I was closer, I might have done the same thing.”

“Then I would kill you too,” Waverly said, stepping back. “This is a strictly no self-sacrifice family from now on.”

Nicole laughed and kissed Waverly, smiling into her lips. “We should get back to work.”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m tired of researching,” Waverly sighed. “Harper was right, everything pointed to the mine.”

“You can help Sarah look into the ritual we’ll need once we have all the relics.” Waverly made a face at the mention of Sarah’s name. Nicole shook her head. “Are you going to not like everyone who likes Harper?” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Waverly said. “I’m concerned about letting an unknown magic user into our group. She could be playing us.”

“I think the only games she wants to play are with Harper,” Nicole said, walking out of the room.

“That’s our daughter, you know,” Waverly said, hurrying to keep up with Nicole. They walked downstairs where Wynonna, Harper and Sarah sat around the kitchen table, pouring over more books. Waverly pointed at Sarah. “What’s she doing here?”

“I invited her to take the couch,” Harper said, looking up from her book. “She’s been sleeping in that Black Badge cell this whole time. I thought the couch would be a step up.”

Waverly frowned but kept her thoughts to herself and took a seat at the table. 

“I think I’ve found the ritual,” Sarah said to Waverly, holding her book out. “It taps into the emotional energy of an object and uses it to give power to an entity. I think if you use this on the relics, you can give Wynonna enough power to take out Bulshar.”

“But we still need to find the lariat and whatever the Earp relic is,” Wynonna said, sliding back from the table, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

“Peacemaker,” Waverly said. “The Earp relic is obviously Peacemaker. Did you really not know that?”

Wynonna reached down and pulled out one of her Peacemakers. “I’m going to have to sacrifice Peacemaker for this?” 

“It’s OK, you have another one,” Waverly said.

“Waves,” Wynonna whined, hugging Peacemaker to her chest. “But I look so cool with two.”

“What do we need for the ritual?” Harper asked, turning to Sarah.

“I’ve made a list,” Sarah said. “It’s not much, but it can only be used during the full moon, which is five days from now.”

“This might sound crazy,” Harper said, thinking fast. “But what if we prep the ritual, then instead of looking for the lariat, we track the cultists.”

“Then when they get the lariat and try to do their ritual for Bulshar,” Nicole said. “We interrupt.”

“Do our ritual, give me the juice I need to shoot Clootie right then and there,” Wynonna finished. 

“That sounds like it has a very little space for errors,” Waverly said, glancing between the people around the table. Harper reached out and took her hand. 

“My mama always had a saying about what it meant to be a Haught-Earp,” Harper said. “It means we protect each other, we support each other and we trust each other.”

Waverly sighed then nodded. Wynonna jumped up and started to do a dance.

“Come on, we have a plan to take out Clootie and finish this once and for all,” Wynonna said. “We are drinking and we are celebrating.”

For a moment, everyone sat and stared at her, but then they couldn’t resist and joined in the celebration.

* * *

Music was blasting from inside the house as Wynonna’s celebration continued while Harper sat on the stairs outside below the stars. She took a swig of her beer and looked over at the barn, trying to think of the last time she’d been inside. Harper walked over to the barn and slid the door open. It was nothing like she remembered. There was a bed against one wall with various trunks and boxes against the other. Growing up, the barn had been a mess and she had been under strict orders to stay out.

She wandered over to the bed and sat down. It was surprisingly comfortable for being a barn bed. There was a knock on the door and Harper looked over to see Waverly standing in the doorway. 

“Mind if we talk?” Waverly asked, walking over to the bed. Harper patted the bad and Waverly sat down. 

“What do you want to talk about?” Harper asked.

“Sarah,” Waverly said, nudging Harper with her shoulder. Harper rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed. “You like her?”

“Of course I like her,” Harper said. “She’s cute and funny and a little weird.”

“I hear a ‘but’,” Waverly said, laying back next to Harper.

“I’d say I have to finish this first.” Harper waved her hand in the general direction of the house. “But that’s not true.”

“Then what is true?” Waverly asked. Harper turned her head and looked at Waverly. “I mean, she likes you, you like her. Where’s the ‘but’?”

“I thought you didn’t like her,” Harper said. 

“You like her.” Waverly shrugged. “And Nicole may have pointed out that my reasons for disliking her weren’t entirely fair.”

“Well, I have to say, I prefer you mildly disliking her to the other option,” Harper laughed.

“Which is?” Waverly asked, looking over at Harper who turned her head away.

“Overly enthusiastic sex talks,” Harper said.

“We can talk about sex or the ‘but’ you’re trying to avoid,” Waverly said, stifling a laugh. “It’s up to you.”

“I’ve never had someone outside the family to talk to about demons and curses and all that,” Harper started.

“Good choice,” Waverly said. “Continue.”

“I guess I don’t know if I actually like her or if I’m just happy to have someone else to talk to,” Harper said, ignoring the interruption. “We had fun at dinner, but we spent most of it talking about demons.”

“And having a ‘goo off’,” Waverly said, winking at Harper and giggling. 

“Wow, you had to make that dirty,” Harper said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how to do the full honesty thing. I’ve never done it before. Bethany was one part of my life, demons were another. Starting something with someone who knows everything. Opening up my whole life. I don’t know if I can do that.”

“My advice is that you won’t know until you try,” Waverly said. “And that can be scary, but sometimes we have to do the things that scare us.”

“Did mom scare you?” Harper asked, turning to look at Waverly again. Waverly smiled and nodded.

“She did,” Waverly said. “That day in the police station, I felt like I was running toward the edge of a cliff. My heart was racing and a part of me wanted to turn back and run to safety, but then I kissed her and we flew.”

“That was a far more romantic retelling than the time you got drunk and told me ‘I tackled your mother in Nedley’s office’, wait, no, I believe your exact words were, ‘I climbed your mother like a tree in Nedley’s office’,” Harper said, making Waverly laugh. “Maybe if we actually pull this off, I’ll follow your advice.”

“No,” Waverly shook her head. “Do it before then. I hate that everyone in this family keeps putting their lives on hold for this stupid curse.”

“It’s only five days,” Harper said.

“I don’t care.” Waverly sat up and looked down at Harper. “There is a life after this curse and we are all going to act like it right now. Now get up, come back to the house and dance to Wynonna’s terrible party mix with that girl.”

Waverly stood up and held her hand out to Harper. Sighing, Harper took Waverly’s hand and stood up then followed Waverly back to the house where the music had been turned even louder as the celebration carried on. Through the window, they could see Nicole and Wynonna dancing and singing along as the floor beneath their feet changed color with the music. There were five more days until they could finally break the curse, but tonight, they were going to live like they’d already done it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end! One more full chapter and then a short epilogue.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter in terms of the main story. There will be a short epilogue which will be posted in a couple of days.

_Harper had spent every moment of the past two weeks planning with her mom. Going over every detail she could think of, every situation she might encounter. It wasn’t enough time, but Harper could’ve had a year to prepare and she still wouldn’t feel ready to leave everything behind. Yet this was it. It had to be tomorrow._

_There was one final thing she needed to take care of. Harper pulled her car up in front of the Homestead. The once vibrant house had been condemned for nearly a year. Ever since their last stand against the cult of Bulshar. It was a grim sight to see the place boarded up and  
without any signs of life. Wynonna’s bike was parked next to the crumbling porch. Alice’s bike now, Harper reminded herself. She saw the place where Alice had pried the plywood away from the door enough for her to slip through. Dust and cobwebs coated every surface, the walls and floors covered in bullet holes and broken glass. Harper carefully climbed the stairs, making sure not to put her feet through any of the rotting wood._

_Alice was in her old room, stretched out across her twin bed one leg dangling off the side. Harper pushed open the door all the way and Alice sat up sharply, pointing Peacemaker in her direction._

_“Oh, it’s you,” Alice said, flopping back down on the bed. “I didn’t expect to see you all the way out here.”_

_“I wanted to talk to you,” Harper said. She stood awkwardly in the threshold, but Alice slid over, making a little room for Harper on the bare mattress._

_“Everything’s completely gone to shit, hasn’t it?” Alice asked once Harper had settled down next to her. She produced a flask from somewhere, taking a long swig._

_“That’s what I wanted to tell you. My mom. Her and I...well...we’ve found a way to fix everything,” Harper explained._

_“What do you mean?”_

_“I’m going to go back. Back before all of this started.”_

_Alice turned to Harper. Her eyes wide. “You can’t do that. You can’t give up everything.”_

_“C’mon, Alice. You know as well as I do that we are completely fucked here.” Harper said, taking the flask from Alice and swallowing a mouthful of whisky. “It’s the only way.”_

_“What you should be doing is getting the fuck out of Purgatory. Starting your life somewhere new, with the Earp curse as far behind you as possible.” Alice said miserably._

_“I would never do that to you. You know what my mama says.” Harper leaned her head against Alice’s shoulder._

_“Yeah,” Alice nodded. “Earps leave no woman behind.”_

_“Listen, Alice. I just wanted you to know, that no matter what’s happened between us, I’ve always thought of you as my family.” Harper wrapped her arms around Alice’s waist, hugging her tightly._

_Alice sighed heavily. “I shouldn’t let you do this, but I also know I can’t stop you.”_

_“It’s OK, because I want to do this. For all of us. For you. You deserve to have a happy life.” Harper heard Alice whimper, felt her reach up to wipe tears from her cheeks._

_They lay side by side in the dark. Harper thought of all the nightmares she had been having every night since she agreed to her mother’s plan. Terrifying visions of getting trapped in some liminal place between then and now, forced to drift off into nowhere, forever alone._

_“I’m afraid,” Harper whispered, admitting what she couldn’t bring herself to say to her mom._

_“You don’t need to be. I’ll be there with you,” Alice said._

_“Yeah, but you’ll be a dumb baby," Harper teased._

_“Hey,” Alice chuckled, smacking Harper on the thigh. “But do me a favor? Try not to hold my sins against the other Alice.”_

_“Never,” Harper promised._

_“Seriously, though,” Alice said, squeezing Harper’s hand. “I’m sorry. For everything I’ve put you through. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised it has to be you. You were always the best of us.”_

_There wasn’t much else that could be said. Harper felt calm there on that tiny bed, pressed up against her cousin. She listened to Alice’s steady breathing, allowing it lull her to sleep. She didn’t dream that night, finally finding some peace._

* * *

Gravel crunched under Harper’s boots as she walked around to the back of the jeep. It was well past midnight and the night air was biting cold. Harper pulled out a pair of shears and a small bag, then walked back around to the front of the jeep where Sarah was waiting. 

“It’s really cold out here,” Sarah said, rubbing her hands over her arms.

“You said we could only harvest this plant at night,” Harper said, gesturing for Sarah to lead the way. 

“That doesn’t make it less cold,” Sarah mumbled. She set off, walking out of the parking lot into the grass. As they moved further into the field away from the singular light of the parking lot, Sarah moved her hands through the air and summoned a bright light above them. 

“I don’t know why anyone would say your magic is useless,” Harper said. “You never have to worry about flashlight batteries.”

“Gee, thanks,” Sarah said. She shivered and hugged her arms around herself. “It would be a lot more useful if it was warm.”

They came up to a small batch of tangled, thorny flowers. Harper dropped the shears and pulled out a pair of gloves. She began yanking on the stems, while Sarah stood next to her shivering. Harper dropped to knees to work on pulling out the roots.

“Why are you here?” Harper asked, taking a moment to look up at Sarah.

“Sorry, I’ll stop complaining and help,” Sarah said, dropping down beside Harper.

“I don’t mean, here,” Harper said. “I mean, you could have left Purgatory by now.”

“I may not be some fancy demon hunter like my family or you Earps,” Sarah said, grabbing the shears and going after the plants. “But I can’t just walk away when I know something terrible is going to happen. And it’s not like I have anywhere else to be.”

“Thank you,” Harper said, smiling at Sarah. She wasn’t sure where they’d be without Sarah’s help finding the ritual. Opening the bag, Harper began shoving the plants inside. When Sarah indicating they had enough, Harper pulled out her phone and called Nicole. The phone rang and went to voicemail.

“We got the flowers and are heading back to the Homestead now,” Harper said, standing up and walking back to the car. “Let me know how things are going on your end.”

“I can work on the preparations alone if you want to go help out in the tunnel,” Sarah said as they climbed back into the jeep. “Or I can call Jeremy. He’s surprisingly useful with the magic stuff for a science guy.”

“That’s alright,” Harper said. “Waverly made it very clear that I need to step back and calm it down a bit.”

“What happened down there?” Sarah asked. Harper shrugged as she turned on the jeep and pulled out onto the road. “Oh come on, something happened. Waverly was pissed.”

“I may have grabbed Peacemaker and charged at an undead body being controlled by a witch,” Harper said. “I was trying to protect the family.”

“Uh huh, and didn’t Nicole recently shoot herself to ‘protect the family’,” Sarah said, using air quotes. “Sorry, future girl, but I’m with Waverly here. You two need to calm it down.”

“I’ve already gotten this lecture,” Harper laughed. “I mean, I’m out here gardening, how much calmer can I get?”

* * *

As Nicole lifted yet another rock out of the entranceway, she wondered how she got stuck on cleanup while Dolls and Wynonna were out trying to track down the witch. They were out following Dolls’ Black Badge leads, doing actual detective work, while Nicole sweated in a sweltering tunnel lifting heavy rocks. Dolls and Wynonna had stuck around long enough to disable all the traps, but once it got to the hard labor, they’d disappeared. Nicole dumped the rock in the wheelbarrow and turned to fetch the next rock when she ran into Waverly. 

Waverly fumbled the rock in her arms, but Nicole was able to help grab it and together they got it into the wheelbarrow. It dropped against the other rocks with a dull thud and Waverly took a moment to rest, leaning against the side of the wheelbarrow with her arms outstretched. They’d both stripped down to tank tops and Nicole couldn’t help but stare, thinking maybe being stuck in a hot tunnel wasn’t the worst thing.

“Nicole?” Waverly said, waving at her girlfriend. Nicole shook her head and looked up at Waverly’s smiling face. “See something you like?”

Nicole blushed and looked down. Waverly walked around the wheelbarrow and gave Nicole a quick kiss before lifting up on the handles. As she walked down the hall, she turned her head and gave Nicole a wink. Exhaling sharply, Nicole went back into the main room. 

They’d managed to clear a path to about the center of the room. There had been a door on the far side of the room and they were hoping to clear enough to find it. While the cult members would have abandoned their underground lair after the explosion, they agreed that investigating the other side may give them enough to find where the cult had relocated.

Nicole bent down to pull out another rock when the pile shifted. She stopped pulling and waited for a moment. The pile settled and Nicole decided to try a different rock. As she lifted a new rock, something dropped down on her shoulder. She turned her head and saw a severed hand.

“Ah!” She yelled and stumbled backwards, flinging the hand away from her. Waverly came careening around the corner as Nicole flopped backwards on the ground to catch her breath.

“What happened?” Waverly said, looking around.

“Cultist arm,” Nicole said, stretching out to kick the arm with her foot. “Startled me.”

Waverly bent down and picked up the arm, looking at the hand. It still had its Bulshar ring on, so she slid it off and dumped the arm. Nicole sat up and tugged Waverly down beside her. 

“Do you think we’ll need this?” Waverly asked, examining the black ring. It was much smaller than the one Widow Mercedes had used, but looked roughly the same. “Maybe we can use it to infiltrate the cult.”

“I feel like the cultists know what we look like,” Nicole said, gently taking the ring from Waverly. As soon as she touched it, she felt this overwhelming urge to keep the ring. Waverly knocked it out of her hand then kicked it away from them. “I take it you felt that too?”

“Like I really wanted to keep it and put it on?” Waverly asked. Nicole nodded. “Yup. But it went away when you took it. I think we should be careful what cursed items we touch.”

“Good plan,” Nicole agreed. Waverly stood up then reached down to help Nicole to her feet. As Waverly went back to picking up rocks, Nicole pulled out her phone to check the time. Seeing a missed call from Harper, she quickly listened to the message. “Harper’s got the flower. I’m going to call her and get over here to lend a hand.”

“No, she’s supposed to be helping Sarah prep for the ritual,” Waverly said.

“Do you see this giant pile of rocks Wynonna made?” Nicole said, pointing at the rubble filled room. “Even with your stunning arms, this is going to take forever and we don’t have a lot of time to spare right now.” 

“Fine,” Waverly said. “But if we run into cultists, you two better not try any daring heroics. We are too close to this being over for that nonsense.”

Nicole laughed and kissed Waverly on the forehead before wandering off to find better signal to call Harper.

* * *

Wynonna glared at the small office building in front of her willing something to happen. She and Dolls had been sitting there so long she found herself wishing she was moving rocks. Scanning the building again, she felt her heart jump when something moved in front of the building. She leaned forward for a better look, then a raccoon jumped out of the bushes into the street.

“Unless Clootie is recruiting the local wildlife,” Wynonna said, slamming back against her seat and crossing her arms. “I think this lead was a bust.”

“Be patient, Wynonna,” Dolls said, eyes fixed on the building. “We have four days.”

“Four days is not a lot of time,” Wynonna said. She glanced over at Dolls who had his blank work expression on his face. “We should be doing something more active.”

“This is plenty active,” Dolls said, taking a sip of his coffee. 

Wynonna rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. She texted Waverly, asking how the tunnel clearing was going with a Haught pun thrown in for good measure. Waverly texted back that she and Nicole were working hard with a winky face at the end. Wynonna smiled at her phone, tucking it away before turning her attention back to the empty building.

“Can’t we go in and look around?” Wynonna asked. Dolls had found the address to this building through his hunt for Daniel. His surveillance of the building had led him to the back entrance of the lair, so they were hoping further surveillance would yield more information. 

“And risk them discovering we’re watching them?” Dolls said, giving Wynonna a sideways look.

“Because a black SUV outside an office building at three in the morning is totally inconspicuous.”

“Earp, look at that.” Dolls pointed at the front door which had swung open. Two cloaked figures stepped out carrying a large black object between them. They walked to the parking lot on the side of the building and loaded the object into the back of a van. Dolls looked at Wynonna with a smirk.

“Fine, you were right,” she said as he turned on the engine to follow.

They followed the van across town out to an old abandoned mansion. Staying back to avoid being seen, they could just make out that the place was crawling with cultists. When the van parked, several figures retrieved the object out of the back of the van and carried it around the back of the house.

“I’m guessing that’s not a new grill for a family barbeque,” Wynonna said, gripping Peacemaker.

“There’s too many of them,” Dolls said, putting his hand on Wynonna’s. “We will stay here and watch.”

Wynonna grumbled and released Peacemaker. He was right, but she still hated waiting around for something to happen. Wynonna settled herself more comfortably in her seat and prepared for a long wait.

* * *

Harper lay face down in the dirt while Nicole lay next to her face up. Waverly and Sarah continued to carry rocks, stepping over the two on the ground. Harper turned her face toward Nicole and reached out to poke her in the arm.

“What time is it?” She asked. Nicole groaned then lifted her phone to her face.

“Eight thirty.” Nicole let her arm fall back down, landing on Harper’s back.

“So it’s still break time?” Harper said hopefully.

“You’ve been on break for an hour,” Waverly said, stepping over Harper and gently kicking Nicole’s boot as she went by. “Get up, we’re almost to the door, I can feel it.”

They’d reached the back wall two hours ago, but they weren’t sure where the other door was, so they had to clear rocks along the whole back wall to find it. When they first reached the wall, they had decided to go to the right, but then they hit another wall and had to go back and clear to the left.

“I don’t know what you two are whining about,” Sarah said, standing at their feet. She easily held a large rock in her arms and looked down at Harper and Nicole with a smug look on her face. Harper rolled over and sat up with her arm outstretched. It went right through the rock and after a moment the rock vanished. “Not cool, McFly.”

Harper flopped back to the ground flipping Sarah off on the way down. Sarah laughed and sat down next to her, leaning back against the wall. 

“How long have you not been helping?” Nicole asked, scowling over at Sarah.

“Since about half an hour before you collapsed.” Sarah smiled down at them. “I can make it look like we’re working if you want to keep napping.”

“I’m getting up,” Nicole said, not moving. “Am I up yet?”

Suddenly, they heard the sound of rocks cascading down, crashing to the ground. Nicole leapt up and dashed over to where the sound came from, Harper close on her heels. They found Waverly standing uninjured next to a fallen pile of rocks. She held a small rock in her hand as she turned and smiled at them, pointing back at the wall.

“Found the door.”

Even though they were exhausted, it didn’t take long for them to clear enough away to open the door. On the other side, they found another tunnel that looked nearly identical to the one they had come down. Nicole stepped forward slowly, gun raised, keeping her eyes peeled for traps. 

“Wait,” Sarah called, moving into the tunnel and walking past Nicole. “There is magic here.”

“Can you do something about it?” Nicole asked. 

Sarah bit her lip then nodded and headed back out of the tunnel. A moment later, she returned with a pouch of powder. Tossing out in front of her, she said some strange sounding words then stepped back. When she finished speaking, the air in front of them turned a sickly green. Sarah stepped back, pulling Nicole back with her. 

“The Bone Witch is that way,” she said, stepping back and closing the door. “Not that I don’t think you guys aren’t very capable people, but we should probably wait for Peacemaker before going that way.”

“And I am pretty exhausted,” Waverly admitted. “I say we go back to the Homestead, rest up, then come back with Wynonna.”

They all quickly agreed it was time for a rest. On their way out, Sarah threw up an illusion to hide their work while Nicole and Waverly moved a large rock in front of the door to deter any unwanted visitors. Once they were happy the room was relatively protected, they headed out of the tunnel to get some sleep.

* * *

The front door of the Homestead slammed shut, jolting Waverly awake. She opened her eyes and found herself on the couch, nestled in Nicole’s arms. Harper slept below them on the floor while Sarah was asleep curled up in an arm chair. Waverly raised her head slightly to see Wynonna standing in the doorway looking at her with an amused half-smile. 

Waverly extricated herself from Nicole’s arms and carefully stepped over Harper to follow Wynonna into the kitchen. Wynonna grabbed two glasses and a bottle of whisky before sitting down at the table and motioning for Waverly to do the same.

“Looks like I missed a wild time,” Wynonna said as she poured them drinks.

“Did you get my text?” Waverly asked, taking a glass from Wynonna but not drinking.

“Underground tunnel that seems to lead to a big scary witch?” Wynonna said. She downed her glass and nodded. “Yup, I got it.”

“How was your stakeout with Dolls?” Waverly asked, swirling her drink around in the glass.

“We found what appears to be cultist central. Pretty sure they were preparing for the ritual.” Wynonna poured herself another drink. “No sign of Bulshar, though.”

“Well, knowing where the ritual will happen is a big step forward,” Waverly said. She gave Wynonna a small smile, but Wynonna shook her head and sighed. “No? Not a big step?”

“I’m just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Waverly said, taking her sister’s hand and smiling broadly. Wynonna gave her a small laugh.

“I’m thinking,” Wynonna continued. “I don’t think we can take on a scary death witch and a demon Clootie at the same time.”

“Are you thinking we need to gear up to take on a witch today?” Waverly asked as she squeezed Wynonna’s hand. “I can wake them up.”

“Let them sleep a bit longer,” Wynonna said. She took Waverly’s glass and drank it. “Later we’ll eat, we’ll plan, we’ll burn a witch.”

* * *

The plan they devised was nuts and they all knew it. But time was short and they couldn’t afford to argue. Standing in the large room before the door that led to the witch, they looked at each other in silence, everyone readying themselves. Wynonna and Waverly stepped forward to the door as everyone else lifted the hoods of their makeshift cultist robes.

They made their way down the next tunnel, keeping a careful eye out for any traps. Wynonna gripped Peacemaker nervously, taking deep breaths and going through the plan again and again. When they reached another door, Waverly squeezed Wynonna’s arm as Dolls stepped around them and pushed the door open.

All those in cultist robes surrounded Wynonna and Waverly and they stepped into the room. It looked like a storage room, filled with boxes and old furniture.The witch was sitting at a table while various robed cultists stood around her.

“The Earp Heir wishes to speak to you,” Dolls said, stepping aside so the witch could see Wynonna and Waverly. The rest of the group moved away from them, stepping to the sides to mingle with the other cultists. 

“We’ve come to make a deal,” Wynonna said. “We think you don’t want to serve Bulshar forever. Help us and live.”

The witch smiled at Wynonna and Waverly and laughed.

“You think you can come in here with your pathetic tin spells and fool me?” The witch rose to her feet, but stayed by the table. “I could sense your magic from the moment you stepped into my tunnel. I don’t know who you are, but that glamour is weak. And I can tell that’s not Peacemaker.”

The witch abruptly turned and leapt at the crowd of cultists, slamming into a hooded figure. The figure fell back, the hood dropped revealing another Wynonna clutching Peacemaker. The witch raised a knife, but the cultist next to her dived into her. The hood came off as they tumbled, another Waverly glaring at the witch. 

The gang all dropped their robes, revealing four sets of Wynonnas and Waverlys, each with a Peacemaker. The witch screamed and demanded her minions retrieve the real Wynonna. Sensing the fallen Wynonna had Peacemaker, the witch shoved her way past cultists, keeping low, to grab the gun. The Wynonna on the floor scrambled to her feet and handed the gun off to a Waverly behind her. Waverly ducked into the crowd, then vanished.

The witch readied her knife and again pounced at Wynonna, who easily deflected the blow. Reeling, the witch spun around and gripped Wynonna’s face, her hand glowing a deep green. The glamour flickered and Harper’s face appeared. Harper screamed in pain and kicked out at the witch, knocking the blade from her hand. A shot rang out, catching the witch on the shoulder. She dropped Harper to the ground and ducked down as another shot went off, this time flying over the witch’s head. 

“Shit!” Wynonna said as a cultist grabbed her from behind. Another Wynonna gripped the cultist’s robe and ripped him off of Wynonna. By the time she got back to her feet, she had lost sight of the witch.

The witch was certain Peacemaker was hiding in a corner. She weaved her way through the brawl, following the pull of the magic. There was another magic tugging at her mind, but she was sure that was the little witch casting all the glamours. The gun was the important thing. She rounded a high stack of crates and found another Waverly clutching the gun. As she stepped forward, a Wynonna pushed Waverly out of the way. Wynonna looked at the witch, inhaled sharply then let out a ball of fire. The witch moved quickly to disperse the spell, then grabbed her attacker’s face, unleashing the green energy and forcing the glamour to drop from Dolls.

Tossing him aside, the witch bore down on Waverly. Waverly clutched the gun tightly and began muttering words under her breath. The glamours all dropped as bright light in the form of the runes on Peacemaker’s barrel shot up from where Sarah was standing.

“Oh, so you’re the little witch. I guess I don’t have to worry about you using that on me.” The witch smiled and reached her hand out for Sarah who tried to back up, but instead tumbled backwards onto the floor.

“No, but you do have to worry about me.”

Wynonna stood on top of the crates pointing Peacemaker directly at the witch’s face. She pulled the trigger and the witch shrieked, then hit the floor, dead. “Make your peace, bitch.”

A few cultists kept fighting and had to be knocked unconscious, but they had the room under control in a matter of minutes. Wynonna walked over to Sarah and helped her to her feet. Sarah shoved Peacemaker into Wynonna’s hand and began brushing her hands off on her clothes.

“No offense, but I never want to hold that thing again,” Sarah said, trying to calm her breathing. “I am not cut out for this.”

“You did good,” Wynonna said. Sarah gave her a half-hearted smile. “Everyone alright?”

Dolls nodded and stood up.

“Good over here,” Waverly said. She and Nicole stood by the entrance with several unconscious cultists by their feet. 

“I’m fine,” Harper said. Her face still burned a bit from where the witch had grabbed her, but it was feeling better.

“I had fun being Waverly,” Jeremy said as Doc pulled him to his feet.

“I still don’t see why I had to be Waverly,” Doc grumbled quietly so Waverly couldn’t hear him. “We all could have been Wynonna.”

“I’d explain the complexities of glamour magic to you, but I don’t have the time nor energy to do so,” Sarah said.

“Come on, we went over this. She didn’t perceive everyone as a threat and so got cocky,” Dolls said. He smiled and roughly clapped Doc on the back. Doc sneered at him and walked off to assist with moving cultists.

“I have an idea,” Waverly said, ripping off a piece of cultist robe. “When I touched the Bulshar ring, it desperately made me want to put it on, but it went away as soon as I wasn’t touching it any more. So I hypothesize that if we remove their rings, they won’t want to be in a demon cult anymore.”

Waverly used the cloth from the robe to carefully remove one of the cultist’s rings. Before she woke him up, Wynonna stepped over and trained Peacemaker on him. When Wynonna was ready, Waverly woke him up.

“Hi there, how ya feelin’?” Waverly asked, watching him as he slowly sat up and looked around.

“Where am I?” He asked. When he saw Peacemaker, he threw his hands up over his head. “Please don’t shoot me!”

“You’re in the Bone Witch’s lair,” Wynonna said, eyes narrowing.

“The who?” The man said.

“The Bone Witch,” Waverly said. “Serves Bulshar. You’re in his cult.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m not in a cult!” He looked at them like they were crazy.

“So you figured out my little secret,” a deep voice boomed behind them. They all turned to see a giant man standing in the shadows. His face was obscured, but they could see his red eyes. “It’s surprisingly difficult to get people to willingly sign up for an evil demonic cult these days. What else was I to do?”

Wynonna opened fire on him with both Peacemakers, but he easily deflected the hail of bullets. She took one last shot, being sure to aim right between his eyes. It seemed to be on target, but then froze in mid-air. The bullet spun slowly in the air then launched right back at Wynonna. Harper jumped in front of her, taking the bullet to the chest and hitting the ground hard. 

“Three more days,” Bulshar said before disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

_After Gus died, Alice left the Ghost River Triangle and never looked back. Wynonna and Waverly had so many fights over it, Waverly believed they should be out there, looking for her, but Wynonna disagreed. All she would do was shrug and say, “Baby girl, Earps always find their way back to Purgatory.” In the end, Wynonna was right. 258 days passed between then and the day Doc brought Alice home, weak and broken._

_73 more days had passed since then and Harper could see that Alice was different somehow. She wasn’t exactly sure, but her temperament was calmer. She didn’t fly off the handle at every comment, she didn’t go out looking for fights. Entire weeks could go by without a single argument from her. She was still her same, ornery self, but she was definitely easier to get along with._

_Wynonna used this change to give Alice a little more freedom when it came to her heir training. She allowed Alice to take on the revenant hunts in her own way. She let Alice solve problems on the fly, only stepping in at the end for the final kill. It was working, most of the time. But this day, Alice and Harper found themselves pinned down behind a wheelbarrow in a barn with three demons closing in on them._

_Harper noticed Alice was distracted that morning from the way she kept glancing at her phone and only offering Harper clipped, one word answers to her questions. She knew she should’ve said something at the time, but now it was too late._

_“Fuck, Alice. You were supposed to check the perimeter,” Harper hissed._

_“I’m sorry. Shit.” Alice ducked as a shot from one of the revenant’s guns ricocheted off the metal._

_“What are we gonna do? We need a plan,” Harper said, desperately looking to her cousin for instruction._

_“Plans are for assholes!” Alice yelled, diving out from behind her cover and firing at the closest demon._

_“Fuck!” Harper said again. She stood up and shot at a revenant on the other side of the room. When she was sure he would be down for at least a couple of minutes, she turned to check on Alice. She had gotten him on the ground and was stomping on his head, but didn’t see the third revenant behind her brandishing a pitchfork._

_One thought passed through Harper’s mind, she ran to Alice, shoving her out of the way. Alice twisted awkwardly on her way down to the ground and felt like she was seeing in slow motion as the demon buried the pitchfork deep into Harper’s chest._

_Alice screamed as she recovered back to her feet, unloading her entire clip into the revenant. The commotion alerted the cavalry who had been waiting outside for the signal. Wynonna kicked the barn door in, followed by Dolls, Waverly, and Nicole._

_Harper’s hand hovered over her chest, she could she how badly she was bleeding, she shirt quickly becoming soaked. She was in pain and couldn’t breathe and was starting to panic. She looked up at her mama with wide, frightened eyes. Waverly had fallen to her knees, pulling Harper’s head into her lap._

_“Baby, you’re gonna be OK, you hear me?” Waverly said. “Dolls! I need you to carry her.”_

_Wynonna and Dolls finished dispatching the revenants, rushing over to Harper’s aid. Dolls hoisted her up and the four quickly made their way back to the car._

_Nicole stayed with Alice, trying to calm her down. Alice was in shock, trembling and mumbling to herself._

_“Alice, look at me.” Nicole said firmly. “This is not your fault. Harper is going to be fine. They’re taking her to the hospital now.”_

_Alice nodded, wrapping her arms around Nicole, letting Nicole hold her. This was new. Alice wasn’t much for physical affection. Even at Gus’ funeral she refused to allow anyone to even get near her. She couldn’t wrap her mind around what had happened. Her stupid, sweet cousin had almost died for her._

_“I...I don’t understand.” Alice tried to speak. “That should’ve been me. Why would she get in the way?”_

_“Harper loves you. We all do.” Nicole gently stroked Alice’s hair._

_“Because I’m the heir,” Alice said angrily, pulling away from Nicole._

_“No.” Nicole shook her head. “Because you are our family. And we’d do anything for you.”_

_Alice still wasn’t sure if she believed that, given the hell she’d put them all through over the years, but she let Nicole lead her out of the barn to her cruiser. They drove to the hospital to wait, a heavy weight lifting from Alice’s chest when they heard Harper was going to be fine. Alice stayed in the lobby while everyone else went to see Harper. She couldn’t yet bring herself to look her cousin in the eye. Alice decided this was the last time she’d let anyone sacrifice themselves for her. She didn’t feel like she deserved it. So she’d focus and train with her mom, study with her aunt, and never be caught in a helpless position ever again._

* * *

Harper blinked up at her family. They had their heads huddled together over her looking frightened. Harper groaned and sat up slowly.

“You were right, Nicole. The stop for my bulletproof vest was necessary. I’m going to lay back down now,” Harper said, wincing in pain from the movement. Waverly let go of the breath she’d been holding and Nicole laughed.

“You have a bulletproof vest?” Wynonna said, shaking her head.

“Yeah,” Harper said. “I mean, I like you and all Wynonna, but I’m not leaping in front of a bullet for you without a vest on. Believe me, I’ve learned my lesson. Hey, did I ever show you my pitchfork scars?”

“Pitchfork scars?” Waverly said. She looked at Harper with a mix of concern and exasperation. “That’s it, I’m wrapping you in bubble wrap.”

“Should we maybe talk about the terrifying demon that was just here?” Jeremy asked, pointing over towards where Bulshar had disappeared.

“What’s to talk about?” Wynonna asked, standing up. “In three days, I’m going to send him to hell.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Jeremy said.

“No it isn’t,” Wynonna said. “Let’s free the rest of these guys then go celebrate. The wicked witch is dead!”

Doc took Jeremy back to the lab to take a look at the cultists’ rings while everyone else worked on waking them up. It took a full hour to calm them all down, Dolls weaving a tale involving drugs in the water supply. After escorting the former cultists to the police station to contact their families, Wynonna was able to convince the girls to head to Shorty’s for drinks. Dolls politely declined, insisting he had work to attend too.

Shorty’s was just as busy as it always was at night. As they walked down the stairs, Wynonna tripped on the broken the step and collided with a few patrons at the bar. They glared at her, but when Waverly appeared beside her apologizing profusely, they let it go. Wynonna and Waverly stayed at the bar to get drinks while the other three found a table. 

“Hey, I can almost breathe without a sharp pain in my sternum,” Harper said, gently poking her bruise, then wincing. “Ow.”

“That’s good since we have to do this all over again in three days,” Nicole said. Sarah shuddered at the thought. Nicole looked over at her. “Hey, you did an excellent job tonight.”

“That’s nice of you,” Sarah said. “But I mostly just ran around terrified.”

“Your spells hid the second Peacemaker from her,” Harper said, taking Sarah’s hand. “That was pretty clutch.”

“I guess,” Sarah shrugged. “This is all pretty outside what I’m used to.”

“What do you do for a living?” Nicole asked. “I’m curious since you can drop everything to help take on an evil demon cult.”

“I sell crappy crystals and jewelry to hippies and new age types,” Sarah said. “I make them extra sparkly.”

“And you can make a living off of that?” Nicole asked.

“I had to sell Doc Holliday’s hat for a sandwich, so no,” Sarah said. “And I maybe don’t want to tell an officer of law how I make ends meet.”

“Shots!” Wynonna said as she sloppily set shot glasses down on the table.

“Hey, can Time Lord over here even drink?” Sarah asked, taking one of the glasses. “What are you, like negative three?”

Harper took the glass out of Sarah’s hand and downed it. After several rounds of drinks, Waverly grabbed Nicole and pulled out onto the floor to dance. Sarah asked Harper to dance, too, but after pointing out that she had been shot only a few hours ago, Sarah relented and set off to find them some food. Wynonna put her hand on the back of Harper’s chair and pulled it a little closer to her.

“Harpsichord,” Wynonna said, leaning in close to Harper.

“That’s a terrible nickname,” Harper said, tipping her head back and trying to get a little more drink out of her glass.

“Listen, I wanted to say thank you,” Wynonna said. “But when we face shithead Clootie on Thursday-”

“Sunday.”

“Sunday. You stay back,” Wynonna said, patting Harper’s shoulder. “You help de-brainwashin’ the cult guys. I’ll shoot the demon. It’s what I do.”

“Just cause you’re the heir,” Harper said, turning slightly in her chair to look Wynonna in the eye. “Doesn’t mean you have to do this alone.”

“I’m not doing anything alone,” Wynonna said. “But I’ve already let one Earp kid down, I’m not making that two. Stay safe.”

Wynonna patted Harper’s head, then stood up and meandered to the bar. Sarah returned to the table dropping a large basket of cheese fries on the table and taking the seat Wynonna had just left. Harper looked down at the fries, then up at Sarah. Putting her hand on Sarah’s cheek, Harper leaned in and kissed her.

“Is that cause we’re all probably going to die on Sunday?” Sarah asked with a big smile on her face.

“No,” Harper said, shaking her head. “It’s cause you bought me cheese fries.”

Sarah laughed and pulled Harper in for another kiss. Wynonna say them and whistled before downing another shot and joining Waverly and Nicole on the dance floor.

* * *

_A pillow came down roughly on Harper’s sleeping face. She sat up sharply, flailing her arms at her attacker._

_“Watch it,” Wynonna said, dodging an errant swing of Harper’s fist._

_“Aunt Wynonna?” Harper mumbled._

_“Rise and shine, kid.” Wynonna tugged Harper’s blankets down._

_“It’s so early,” Harper said. “And it’s the weekend, why are you waking me up?”_

_“Big plans. Now go rouse your cousin and report downstairs ASAP.”_

_Harper whined again, but got up anyway, concerned that Wynonna might need their help with some revenant business. Waking Alice was a challenge, but they both dressed and made it downstairs._

_“This better be important, Wynonna,” Alice grumbled._

_“Oh, it is.” Wynonna sat at the kitchen table, gulping down a cup of coffee with a serious look on her face. “Ladies, we are about to partake in a storied family tradition. Today is the day you truly become Earp Women.”_

_She produced a ratty looking coonskin cap with a face and placed it reverently upon her head. Harper let out a long groan when she saw it._

_“No,” Harper whined. “I thought mama threw that out.”_

_“She can try,” Wynonna scoffed._

_“What the fuck is that?” Alice asked, staring into the raccoon’s beady glass eyes._

_“That’s Smiley,” Harper explained. “Smiley is who Aunt Wynonna likes to blame all of her drunken, delinquent behavior on during Purgatory’s Pioneer Days Festival. Which, I might add, isn’t for another month.”_

_Wynonna gasped and covered her hat’s ears. “Don’t say things like that to him.”_

_“Two years ago you ended up stark naked at the top of the high school screaming obscenities to everyone who passed by. Mom was pissed when she had help you down, because you refused to put any clothes back on.”_

_“I’m going back to bed,” Alice said._

_“Now hold on and let me explain.” Wynonna stood. “Every goddamned year Dusty Rider tells me he’s out of his black raspberry moonshine. That asshole is probably still bitter I kicked him in the balls in high school,” She added as an aside. “But last year I saw Chrissy Nedley swilling some not fifteen minutes after I asked.”_

_“Is there anyone you didn’t kick in the crotch in high school?” Alice wondered aloud._

_“Yes,” Wynonna said in a voice that didn’t sound all that convincing._

_“So what are you gonna do about it?” Harper asked._

_“I’m not letting him give me the runaround this year,” Wynonna said, slamming her coffee mug dramatically down onto the table. “This year, I’m going straight to the source.”_

_“You’re gonna raid Dusty’s still,” Harper said, putting the dots together._

_“And you’re going to help.”_

_“That’s our great family tradition?” Harper said incredulously. “Trespassing, breaking and entering, and probably an embarrassing display of public intoxication? What, are you telling me that you helped grandma break into some speakeasy when you were a teenager?”_

_“First of all, how dare you. I am not that old. Secondly, how do you think families get traditions? They have to start them sometime.”_

_“You do realize you’re asking two minors to aid and abet your crimes.” Harper crossed her arms._

_Wynonna waved her hand dismissively. “It doesn’t count when you’re family, now are you in?”_

_Harper looked to Alice who remained uncharacteristically quiet during their exchange. She assumed Alice was going to scream and storm up the stairs, but she just tilted her head and looked at Wynonna._

_“Can I drink some of the moonshine?” Alice asked._

_“Of course.”_

_“Then I’m in.”_

* * *

_“I SEE YOU WYNONNA EARP!” Dusty screamed at the top of his lungs. “GET BACK HERE!”_

_Breaking into the still had gone off without a hitch, but on their way out, Alice snagged her jacket on a loose, rusty nail jutting out of the window sill as she tried to pass the mason jar to Wynonna. It slipped from her hand, smashing to the ground. The noise caught Dusty’s dogs’ attention who, in turn, alerted the man himself. He burst out of his cabin with his shotgun, eyes wild. Harper ripped the sleeve of Alice’s jacket to free her and tossed an unbroken jar to Wynonna before clambering out of the window herself._

_Dusty fired two shots at the fleeing Earp women, but they were already too far out of range. They ran all the way back to Purgatory, not stopping until they reached the main street. They snuck into the high school, climbing the back stairs to the roof. Taking a seat on the edge of the parapet, letting their feet dangle, Wynonna held up their spoils._

_“That was insane,” Harper said._

_“Fuck, when he saw us, I thought I was gonna be picking buckshot outta my ass for a week,” Alice added._

_Wynonna tipped her coonskin cap and cracked open the jar of liquor, taking a long swig. “That guy’s an ass, but he certainly knows how to distill some mighty fine hooch.”_

_She took another drink, then passed the jar to Alice. Alice tentatively put her lips to the glass, taking a small sip. She coughed as the liquid burned down her throat. Wynonna and Harper laughed as Alice sputtered._

_“Shit, this stuff is strong enough to power Dusty’s tractor.”_

_“Well don’t leave me out,” Harper said, reaching for the jar. Harper was about to drink when she saw a cruiser pull up next to the school. “Oh, no.”_

_“What is it?” Alice asked._

_“My moms.”_

_Nicole and a very angry Waverly stepped out onto the street looking up at the three banditos._

_“I am so dead.” Harper handed the jar back to Alice who nodded in agreement. “You’re lucky you’re not gonna get in trouble for this because it was your mom’s idea.” Harper stood and made her way back to the stairs hoping she could feign temporary amnesia or something to avoid punishment._

_Alice turned to Wynonna who just shrugged. “Kid’s right,” Wynonna said, taking the moonshine back. “Maybe I ain’t so bad after all.”_

_Wynonna expected Alice to follow Harper off the roof, but she leaned back a little on her hands and let her eyes close._

_“Can I try on the hat?” Alice asked._

_Wynonna tugged the cap off her head by the tail, handing it to Alice and trying not to grin too widely._

* * *

The team gathered in the Black Badge office. The hours until the ritual were quickly dwindling and they needed to plan. Everyone was tense as Dolls entered with a large rolled up paper.

“This is site where the ritual will take place,” Dolls said, setting a large aerial photograph of the mansion he and Wynonna had scoped out on the table. “We need to figure out our game plan.”

“First thing we’ll have to deal with are the brainwashed cultists,” Wynonna said, pulling the picture towards her. “They will be all over the place.”

“I think I’ve come up with a way to dispel the effects of the rings without having to take them off,” Jeremy said. “I just need to make it and test it in under thirty-six hours. I’ll keep you updated.”

“If we can’t get them cleared out, what’s the backup plan?” Dolls asked.

“Sarah can do the magic show thing again, right?” Wynonna said, looking over at Sarah.

“I can’t do glamours and help with the ritual,” Sarah said.

“I can lead the ritual,” Waverly said, perking up and raising her hand. “I’ve thoroughly studied it and I married a skull once.”

“You what?” Harper asked.

“Alright, so Jeremy and Sarah will be in charge of the cultist hordes,” Wynonna said. “Waverly will take lead on the ritual, I’m on Clootie duty.”

“Clootie duty,” Waverly said, giggling and nudging Wynonna with her elbow.

“And the rest of us need to make sure our ritual goes off without a hitch,” Dolls said. He began to mark off points on the picture. “I’d like to secure the house, if we can, but the priority will be the ritual site.”

“Harper and I can take the house,” Nicole said, looking over at Harper who nodded her agreement. 

“If things don’t go well in there,” Dolls said. “Get out and get to the ritual site.”

They spent the next several hours going over details and contingency plans while Jeremy left to work on the cultist rings issue and Waverly sat down with Sarah to go over the ritual again. Once Dolls was satisfied that they had prepared enough for the day, he sent everyone home for the last night before the showdown.

The ride back to the Homestead was tense. Waverly talked about the ritual plan non-stop to fill the car with noise since no one else was talking. When they reached the Homestead, Harper took her time walking up to the house. The last time her family had faced off against Bulshar, their home had been destroyed and Harper wanted to take a moment to take in the sight of her family walking into their home.

Harper slowly walked up the steps and into the house. Since she’d arrived, there had always been some next step she needed to focus on, but now there was only one thing left to do then her mission would over, one way or another. Harper walked through the house, actually paying attention to how much was the same and what little things had changed. 

She stopped at the doorway that had Wynonna’s and Willa’s heights marked off then turned to look at the other side where her height had been marked growing up. There were no Agnes lines that changed to Harper lines. There was no Mama line overtaken by “Harper age 12” and no Mom line below “Harper age 16”. There never would be either. Harper smiled as she ran her fingers over the clean white wood, hoping that Alice’s name would be there soon and wondering what other names would join hers.

“Everything alright?” Waverly asked from behind Harper. 

“I’m thinking about moving out into the barn,” Harper said. “Since Alice will be coming back soon, I thought it would give everyone more space.”

Waverly smiled broadly and nodded. “Alice is coming back soon, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is.”

* * *

Wynonna crept around the side of the building, Waverly close on her heels. Nicole and Harper waited by the front of the house for Jeremy and Sarah to give the signal. Sarah glanced over at Jeremy who gave her a thumbs up. She traced symbols in the air in front of her with her fingers, said a few words and then pointed upward. A bright beam of light shot into the air, highlighting where she and Jeremy stood and launching everyone into action.

A wave of cultists ran at Jeremy and Sarah, clearing a path for Wynonna and Waverly. Doc and Dolls came around the other side of the house to draw more cultists away from the ritual space. Wynonna sprinted out to backyard with Waverly. The cultists had started their ritual, standing in a circle with Bulshar and the lariat in the middle. They could finally see the demon himself. His dirty, moth-eaten clothes hung off his white, rotten skin. His bloodshot eyes felt like they bore into their souls. Wynonna lifted both Peacemakers and began firing. The man leading the ritual dropped to the ground, stopping the ritual in its tracks. 

The cultists nearest Wynonna turned to run at her, but a burst of flame erupted knocking them off their feet. Wynonna winked at Dolls then leapt over the cultists and ran right at Bulshar, opening fire again. Bulshar raised his arms, knocking Wynonna back so hard she went through window in the mansion. Waverly knew she couldn’t stop to help her sister, she had to keep going. Sneaking around the raging Bulshar, Waverly grabbed the lariat and ran as fast as she could back around towards the front of the mansion.

Nicole grabbed Wynonna by the arm and pulled her back to her feet. Harper provided cover fire while Wynonna sorted herself out. Once Wynonna had both Peacemakers in hand, she leapt back through the window. Harper and Nicole turned back towards the front of the house and burst out the front door.

Waverly dumped the relics from her bag and arranged them neatly in a row. She pulled out all the ritual materials and quickly laid them out around the relics. Jeremy came running over, frantically spraying around him. Nicole ran to Waverly, kneeling beside her.

“How’s it going?” Nicole asked, scanning the area.

“Right on schedule,” Waverly said, pulling out the ritual book. “Wish me luck!”

Nicole pressed a kiss on Waverly’s temple, then hopped up and headed to the side of the house with Harper. Several cultists were wandering around aimlessly, completely confused by where they were and what was happening. When they saw Nicole and Harper round the house with guns raised, they turned and ran. 

“Guess Jeremy’s spray is working,” Harper said. She glanced around to see a few more cultists running away from the mansion.

“A little help back here!” Wynonna yelled from the back side of the house. Nicole and Harper took off and found Wynonna fighting off two cultists. From the glow of Peacemakers’ barrels, they were clearly demons. 

Nicole threw her shoulder into one of the demons while Harper grabbed the other around the neck. Wynonna fired at the demon Nicole knocked to the ground, then turned around to face the other, but he was grappling with Harper and Wynonna couldn’t get a clean shot. 

“Get Bulshar!” Harper yelled, still wrestling the demon. 

Wynonna hesitated a second, then went off to find Bulshar. When she found Bulshar, she saw Dolls and Doc standing next to him, staring at her with empty black eyes. Doc raised his gun and Dolls tilted his head, taking a deep breath.

“Well this doesn’t look good,” Wynonna said, slowly backing away, then turning and running as a wall of fire erupted behind her. As she ran back toward Harper and Nicole, she called out to them. “Get back to Waverly! Bulshar’s got Doc and Dolls!”

“What?” Nicole asked, dragging a demon off of Harper. 

Wynonna stopped and shot the demon. “I don’t know what he did to them, but they are trying to kill me. I’ll distract them, you protect the ritual.”

Nicole nodded and pulled Harper back up to her feet. Doc and Dolls rounded the corner just as Wynonna ran into the side door of the mansion. They followed her inside, losing her in the vast network of rooms. 

Outside, Waverly began reading the ritual pages only to be interrupted when she was grabbed from behind and yanked out of the circle. When she looked up, she saw two cultists making a beeline for her relics pile. Harper sprinted out and leapt at the cultists. She crashed into them and all three landed on top of the relics. 

One of the cultists grabbed the bible and tried to run, but Harper wrapped the lariat around his neck and yanked him back. Nicole fired at the other cultist while Waverly ran out to grab the bible back. Harper shoved the unconscious cultist off her, then dragged him out of the ritual space.

“Maybe we should just grab everything and get out of here,” Harper said. “There will be another full moon in a month.”

“No,” Waverly shook her head, fixing her pile. “Go get Wynonna and at least one Peacemaker. We are ending this now.”

As Harper turned back to the house, a wall of cultists appeared in front of her. She froze and looked back at Waverly and Nicole, both getting ready for a fight. Sarah jogged over to Harper, stopping to catch her breath.

“They’re not real,” Sarah explained. “Just a distraction to protect the ritual.”

Harper reached out and squeezed Sarah’s arm before running through one of the cultists and into the house. She heard a loud crash from upstairs and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. When she reached the top landing, Dolls came flying out a door, narrowly missing her then falling down the stairs. Wynonna ran out of the room, wincing.

“Sorry!” She yelled down to him. “But you were trying to kill me.”

“Waverly needs you outside,” Harper said. Wynonna jumped, not having noticed Harper. “I think it’s time for the big finale.”

“Doc’s still up here somewhere and Dolls is pissed,” Wynonna said. “Keep them off our backs?”

“Absolutely,” Harper said. Dolls had gotten up and was stomping up the stairs toward them. “There’s another stairwell down the hall to the left.”

Wynonna took off down the hall, leaving Harper with Dolls. He took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of flames, lighting the banister on fire. She felt her body lock up and heart race in her chest. He smiled and walked past her, setting of in the direction Wynonna had gone. Closing her eyes and thinking about everything this night meant, she forced herself to move and ran directly into Dolls’ back.

Waverly had resumed the ritual by the time Wynonna reached the circle. She stopped when she saw the wall of cultists, but Nicole waved her over. 

“Not real,” Nicole said, gesturing with her head towards Sarah, who was keeping watch on the far side of the house. “Waverly said you need to put Peacemaker in the line then stand across from her. I’ve got you guys covered, go.”

Wynonna walked passed her kneeling sister into the middle of the circle. She pulled out both Peacemakers, then set one down at the end of the row of relics. Stepping carefully over them, she walked to the far side of the circle and turned to face her sister.

The wall of cultists vanished and Bulshar stepped out of the house. Nicole immediately opened fire only to be flung clear to the other side of the ritual circle. As he stalked toward Waverly, a glowing circle of blue light formed around Waverly and Wynonna. Bulshar growled and forced his way through the light. The circle glowed brighter and Wynonna felt a deep cold grip her body. She tried to move, fighting against the cold, but couldn’t move a muscle. Bulshar reached out in front of him and clenched his fist. Waverly slid back on the ground a few inches, but Bulshar couldn’t stop her chanting. Sarah began moving her hands and whispering, but he dispelled her magic with a frustrated flick of his wrist as he kept walking to Waverly. Bulshar reached down toward Waverly’s head when her eyes shot open, making eye contact with Wynonna. She felt her body grow hot and limbs were suddenly able to move again.

“This one’s for my family.”

Wynonna raised Peacemaker and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Wynonna lowered Peacemaker as the ground closed in front of her, Bulshar and the relics gone. Waverly launched herself around Wynonna’s neck, hugging her tightly as tears streamed down both their faces. Wynonna dropped Peacemaker on the ground and squeezed her sister tighter.

Sarah helped Nicole to her feet at the edge of the circle, where they stayed to give the Earps some space. Doc came out of the mansion supporting a badly beaten Dolls followed by Jeremy helping an equally battered Harper. Nicole ran through the circle to get to Harper.

“Are you guys alright?” Wynonna said, letting go of Waverly. 

“I feel like I got my ass handed to me by Wonder Woman,” Dolls said, trying to stand up a little straighter. “But other than that, I’m fine.”

“Yup, totally fine,” Harper said. Nicole helped her walk forward to the rest of her family. “So?”

“It’s over,” Wynonna said. Harper lurched forward, pulling Wynonna, Waverly and Nicole into a hug, laughing even through the pain in her body. They all stood together, holding each other, laughing and crying until Wynonna stepped back and smiled at Harper. “Thank you.”

“What do we do now?” Waverly asked.

“I don’t know about you,” Wynonna said. “But I’m going to get my daughter.”


	9. epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone who has read & enjoyed this story

Harper’s phone buzzed insistently on her nightstand, but she refused to answer it. It was Sunday and she had no reason to get up just yet. The phone buzzed again and she pulled the blanket up over her head.

“Who is it?” Sarah mumbled into her pillow. Sighing, Harper threw the blanket down and leaned over to pick up the phone.

“It’s Waverly,” Harper said. She put the phone down and flopped back onto the bed. “I’ll call her back later.”

“What if it’s a demon?” Sarah yawned and snuggled closer to Harper, resting her head on Harper’s chest.

“Demons know better than to interrupt Waverly Haught-Earp’s plans,” Harper said, pressing a kiss to Sarah’s forehead. 

“Break one little family curse and you get cocky,” Sarah said. She looked up at Harper and pulled her in for a kiss. The phone started buzzing again. Harper grabbed it and saw that now Nicole was calling. “You should answer your mom-not-mom Or should I call her your sister mother.”

“You’re making us sound like a weird inbred cult again,” Harper said, trying not to laugh.

“I have dealt with inbred cults and, my dear, you are no inbred cult.” Harper burst out laughing. Sarah leaned in to kiss her when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. 

Harper got out of bed and pulled on some jeans and a Purgatory PD softball shirt she found on the floor. Stepping out of the bedroom and pulling the door closed, Harper took a moment to be glad they had finally finished the barn renovations so whoever was knocking couldn’t see the absolute mess that was their bedroom after the previous night. She walked over to the barn’s front door and pulled it open to find a very annoyed Waverly.

“You didn’t answer your phone,” she said, poking Harper hard in the chest. “I want verbal confirmation you will be at Alice’s birthday party.”

“I live fifty feet from where the party is taking place,” Harper said, pointing over at the main house. “I literally cannot miss it.”

“You should still answer your phone when I call,” Waverly said. Harper felt arms snake around her waist as Sarah came up behind her. “And did you not read the updated party agenda I sent you on Friday?”

“Good morning, Waverly,” Sarah said, smiling with her chin resting resting on Harper’s shoulder. She had to stand on her tiptoes, but she loved doing it.

“You’ll be there too?” Waverly said. “You have to been there too. Alice is insisting.”

“I would not miss my girlfriend’s cousin’s-slash-niece’s birthday for anything in the world,” Sarah said, squeezing Harper gently.

“Good,” Waverly nodded “Everything has to be perfect.”

“You say that every year,” Harper said.

“Because it’s true every year,” Waverly replied. “Now go get ready. Pancakes in ten.”

“But it’s seven in the morning,” Harper groaned.

“We have a busy day! Read the agenda, pancakes in nine!”

Harper smiled as Waverly jogged across the yard to the main house, already yelling for Wynonna to get her ass moving. She shut the door then turned to face Sarah.

“Do you ever think I’m too close to my family?” Harper asked. “Like, maybe we should move off the Homestead?”

“You nearly lost your mind when we went on vacation for a week,” Sarah said. She slapped Harper playfully on the arm then headed back to the bedroom.

“We don’t have to go far,” Harper said, following after her. “Just the other side of Purgatory.”

“You would hate it,” Sarah said.

“I could get used to it,” Harper protested.

“I wouldn’t want you to!” Sarah turned back to Harper and threw her arms around her neck. Harper tried to duck her head, but Sarah caught her lips and kissed her. “I love how much your family means to you and I want that for us. And I’ve spent most of my life wandering around the world and I cannot tell you how much it means to me to finally have a place to call home. Besides, I spent a lot of time making this barn not suck, so we’re staying.”

They got ready and went over to the main house a few minutes late. Waverly scolded them, then let them in and pointed them over to the kitchen. A frazzled Nicole sat with the brunette two year old bundle of energy, Margaret Haught-Earp, desperately trying to get her to sit down and eat her breakfast. When Harper and Sarah walked in, Nicole mouthed ‘help me’ at them.

“Hey, Mags,” Harper said, kneeling down so she could be eye level with her tiny sister. “What seems to be the problem?”

“I don’t want pancakes!” Margaret yelled, jumping up and down on her chair. “Give me cake!”

“You have to eat pancakes before you can have cake,” Nicole said in a pleading tone. 

“No!” The toddler shouted.

“What if I promise to get you an extra big slice of cake if you eat all your pancakes?” Harper said, sliding the plate closer to Margaret. “And then you can come have a sleepover with me and Sarah.”

The toddler narrowed her eyes as if Harper were trying to play a trick on her and she couldn’t quite figure out what.

“Only if Sarah makes the plate sparkle,” Margaret said, crossing her little arms across her chest. Sarah reached out and touched the edge of the plate, tracing her fingers in intricate patterns and saying a few words under her breath. The plate began to twinkle a whole rainbow of colors. Margaret laughed and clapped and sat down to eat.

“I’ve got this, guys,” Sarah said, sitting down next to Margaret. “Harper, take Nicole out for a breather.”

“Thank you so much,” Nicole said standing up. She pressed a kiss to Margaret’s head then grabbed Sarah’s and did the same. Margaret laughed then pressed a sticky syrup kiss on Sarah’s cheek. 

Waverly was still in the living room trying to wrangle Wynonna and Alice, so Nicole and Harper took the side door outside. Nicole practically collapsed against the porch railing the second the door closed.

“I am so tired,” Nicole said. “She was so nice and quiet, then she hit two.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Harper said, shrugging and rubbing Nicole’s back. “I was a perfectly behaved angel every day of my life.”

“Somehow I seriously doubt that,” Nicole said. Harper laughed, then hopped up to sit on the railing. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous,” Harper said. From her seat, she could see into the kitchen where Sarah was now helping Waverly make more pancakes.

“Don’t be,” Nicole said, smiling over at Harper.

Alice, the as of today six year old, came stomping out of the house onto the porch. She looked around and when she found them, she took two big jumps to reach them.

“Aunt Waverly says come inside now or else,” Alice announced. “And mama says leave us, save yourselves.”

She turned to go back inside but Harper called her back.

“Are you sure you’re OK sharing your special day?” Harper asked. This whole thing hadn’t been her idea and she hoped no one was pressuring Alice into it.

“Duh, of course,” Alice said making a face that made her look so much like Wynonna it was startling. “Family is the best birthday present.”

Harper was taken aback by how different this Alice was from the one she had left behind. This Alice had the love and family she had always deserved and Harper had to take a deep breath to keep herself together.

Alice hopped her way back in the house while Harper and Nicole took another moment to enjoy the peace before heading inside themselves. They took seats next to each other and Wynonna dropped plates in front of each of them.

“Why didn’t you run?” She whispered, a big terrifying smile on her face.

“Wynonna!” Waverly said from her place at the stove. “More pancake batter!”

Wynonna walked over to the fridge to fetch more batter for Waverly, the smile still plastered on her face.

“We have a busy day planned,” Waverly said. “Zoo, ice skating then movie night. To get to the rink at our scheduled time, we’ll need to leave the zoo by one, so we have to leave here in twenty minutes for the zoo.”

“Presents!” Alice shouted before turning and giving Harper a big wink. Sarah looked over at Harper, curiously, but Harper just shrugged.

“We’re doing presents at the ice rink,” Waverly said, depositing more pancakes on the table. “Then cake at movie night.”

“No, not those presents,” Alice said, rolling her eyes as if her aunt had misunderstood the simplest thing in the world. “My family present.”

“What are you talking about?” Waverly said. She pulled out a piece of notebook paper with the day’s schedule on it, checking she hadn’t overlooked something.

“You know, the present where my family gets bigger,” Alice said, dramatically gesturing at Sarah with her head. 

“Alice, sweetie,” Sarah started, but Harper stood up and pulled Sarah to her feet with her.

“Sarah Miller,” Harper said, putting her hand in her pocket. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else and I see how much a part of this family you’ve become and I’d really, really like to make that official.”

Harper dropped down to one knee and pulled out the ring she and Nicole had spent ages picking out.

“Sarah, I love you, will you marry me?” The whole room was silent, even the children stopped what they were doing and watched, waiting for Sarah’s response.

“Of course I will,” Sarah said, tugging Harper up to her feet. “Yes.”

Harper slipped the ring on Sarah’s finger then Sarah kissed her, pulling her as close as she could. Everyone around them started clapping and when they separated, Harper could see that while Nicole and Wynonna had watery eyes, Waverly was openly crying.

Everyone congratulated them and gave them hugs, Margaret’s hug a little sticky. Wynonna promised to take them out drinking the next night and Nicole quickly insisted they didn’t have to keep their sleepover promise to Margaret if they didn’t want to, but Sarah assured Nicole that she didn’t break promises to family. Waverly came in for a second hug, squeezing them and crying about how proud she was of Harper into Harper’s shoulder. After gaining back some of her composure Waverly cleared her throat.

“We have to stay on schedule,” Waverly said, wiping tears off her cheeks. “Can’t have us falling behind on Alice’s special Earp, Haught-Earp and Miller day, now can we?”

While the others finished eating, Sarah led Harper outside, kissing her hard the second the door closed behind them. She pulled back, a hand on each side of Harper’s face, and took in Harper’s big dimpled smile.

“How’d I get so lucky?” Sarah asked. Harper dipped her head down, blushing, but Sarah put a finger under her chin, making Harper look at her. “When you first told me the truth about where you came from, I thought, what kind of insane person would leave everything behind for the slim chance of making things better for other people. Then I realized it could only be someone who was kind and generous and brave and loving beyond anything I’d ever known. Agnes Haught-Earp, the whole world is lucky to have you, but I’m luckiest of all.”

“No, I am,” Harper said. “I’ve got you. I’ve got them. And now we’ve got a whole future ahead of us.”

They kissed again, letting their lips linger. Inside, they could hear that Margaret had started shrieking about cake, egged on by Alice. Nicole was pleading with Margaret to stop while Wynonna joined Alice in chanting ‘cake, cake, cake’. Harper could only imagine the look of frustration that must have been on Waverly’s face. After another moment Harper took Sarah’s hand and led her back into the madness.


End file.
